The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, on behalf of the small island states, has called for a global tax on the profits of oil and gas companies to finance compensation for countries in the South affected by climate disasters.
“In the first half of this year, six fossil fuel companies earned more than needed to cover the costs of severe climate damage in developing countries, making nearly $ 70 billion in profits,” Gaston Browne told the conference. on climate COP27 held in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt).
“It is time for these companies to pay a global carbon tax on their profits to finance loss and damage,” he asked, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) threatened by rising sea levels.
This appeal echoes that of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who in September called on rich countries to “tax unexpected profits from fossil fuel companies” and redistribute them to countries suffering the effects of climate change and affected populations. from inflation.
The issue of losses and damage (or damage) suffered by the countries of the South, which are hardly responsible for global warming but are cruelly affected by it, has been officially placed on the agenda of the great meeting of the United Nations on climate.
“This is just one step,” Gastón Browne warned. “We must unequivocally set up a loss and damage fund at this COP” and it will be “a modest demonstration when our members lose up to 2% of their GDP in one day due to a single weather event,” he said.
He announced the creation of a “commission” of small island states registered by the United Nations to “explore the responsibility of some states for the damage caused by their actions to the climate and the violation of their obligations.”
Tuvalu on Tuesday called for the adoption of a “non-proliferation treaty of fossil fuels”.
The tiny archipelago has joined another Pacific nation, Vanuatu, in its desire to create a mechanism to regulate fossil fuel production and prepare for the transition to renewable energy.
“The seas are warming and starting to swallow our land, inch by inch. But the world’s dependence on oil, gas and coal will not drown our dreams in the waves, ”Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano said.
The desired treaty must ensure “a just transition from fossil fuels,” he said.
