Calls to hold fossil fuel companies fi nancially accountable for climate damage are gaining global momentum, with campaigners, journalists and civil society leaders urging governments to make major polluters contribute more to climate action and recovery.
Speaking at a ‘Make Polluters Pay’ event during London Climate Action Week, representatives from climate organizations highlighted growing support for measures such as windfall taxes on oil and gas profi ts, closing tax loopholes, and expanding climate litigation against fossil fuel companies.
The event was organized by 350.org and Stamp Out Poverty and chaired by Climate Home News journalist Megan Rowling.
Participants argued that while climaterelated disasters and energy price volatility continue to affect households and vulnerable communities, many fossil fuel companies have continued to report substantial profi ts.
According to 350.org’s Out of Pocket report, an estimated US$12 trillion flows annually to the fossil fuel industry through subsidies, tax incentives and unaccounted climate damages-far exceeding current global climate fi nance.
Speakers said recent developments, including climate superfund laws in parts of the United States, windfall taxes in Europe, and climate-related legal cases in several countries, reflect a growing international effort to strengthen corporate accountability for emissions and climate impacts.
Campaigners also stressed that revenues generated through such measures could help fi nance clean energy deployment, climate adaptation, and resilience-building in developing countries and vulnerable communities.
They emphasized that communities most affected by climate change often contribute the least to global emissions but bear the greatest social and economic costs.
The discussion concluded that making major polluters contribute to climate solutions is increasingly becoming part of mainstream policy debates, with advocates calling for stronger international action to ensure climate fi nance supports a just and equitable energy transition