United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for governments around the world to increase taxes on coal, oil, and natural gas companies to offset the cost of climate change and inflation.
“Today, I am calling on all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies,” Guterres said. “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.”
His remarks came at the U.N.’s General Assembly in New York City. He blamed fossil fuel companies for “feasting on hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies and windfall profits” and called on first-world countries to tax more and use those taxes to help vulnerable and poor nations facing the effects of climate change.
“Today, I am calling on all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies,” he told diplomats gathered for the annual meeting. “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.”
At a separate event on Sept. 19, he laid the foundation for his call for higher taxes on fossil fuels:
“We need to save our planet — which is quite literally on fire. This means addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate breakdown, biodiversity loss and pollution. It means supporting the Global Biodiversity Framework to transform how we use and preserve our natural gifts for the future. And it means moving away from our suicidal dependence on fossil fuels and jump-starting the renewable energy transition in every country — and supporting developing countries as they make this shift and adapt to the changes around them.”
Read more about his remarks at the United Nations website at this link.
