United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking during the annual General Assembly on Tuesday, called for a tax on fossil fuel companies who are "feasting" on profits amid rising energy costs.
Guterres believes that rich economies should hit oil and gas companies with new windfall taxes to provide assistance for countries suffering from climate change, and people grappling with soaring energy and food bills.
Guterres: 'Polluters Must Pay'
The UN chief argued that energy giants were benefiting from hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies and windfall profits as household budgets continue to shrink. The official's comments come on the heels of a European Union proposal to introduce a windfall tax on oil, gas, and coal companies, many of which reported high profits amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
The European Commission is proposing that EU states take a 33% share of the companies' surplus profits. The United Kingdom previously introduced a 25% windfall tax earlier this year for relief for people who are struggling to pay their energy bills, as per CNN.
However, newly-installed Prime Minister Liz Truss has said that she was not planning to extend it to pay for a much bigger program of subsidies this winter and next. Meanwhile, United States President Joe Biden mulled the idea in the summer but it gained little momentum.
Guterres, speaking in front of the assembly, said, "Today, I am calling on all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies. Those funds should be redirected in two ways: to countries suffering loss and damage caused by the climate crisis, and to people struggling with rising food and energy prices."
According to CNBC, the UN chief said that fossil fuel firms and their "enablers" needed to be held to account. Guterres noted that includes the banks, private equity, asset managers, and other financial institutions that continue to invest and underwrite carbon pollution.
Taxing Fossil Fuel Companies
Guterres said it also included what he called "the massive public relations machine raking in billions to shield the fossil fuel industry from scrutiny." Despite the UN chief's remarks, he appeared to acknowledge the reality of the current situation, in which coal, oil, and gas continue to play a critical role in the modern world, in both developed and emerging economies.
The UN chief said that fossil fuels cannot be shut down overnight, urging for a just transition where no person or country is left behind. He added that it was time to put fossil fuel producers, investors, and enablers on notice.
The Tuesday speech reinforced Guterres' comments in August when he said that it was "immoral" for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis on the back of the poorest people and communities and at a massive cost to the climate.
Guterres continued to sound the alarm on the situation, saying that a winter of global discontent is just over the horizon and argued that the world is currently experiencing a cost-of-living crisis that affects millions of people, Aljazeera reported.
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