United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called on governments to tax windfall profits made by oil companies and channel the proceeds into climate recovery efforts in vulnerable countries.
Guterres warned that fossil fuel interests were undermining the global fight against climate change.
He made the call on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the COP31 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya, Türkiye, citing the disparity between oil companies’ profits and resources available to countries suffering climate-related losses.
The call came as UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, and COP31 President of Negotiations, Chris Bowen, called for accelerated climate action and stronger international cooperation amid growing economic and environmental challenges.
Guterres said the nine largest oil companies made $95 billion in profits in the last quarter alone, while the Loss and Damage Fund had received only about $600 million.
According to him, the companies made in approximately 14 hours what the fund had received, stressing that those benefiting from fossil fuels must contribute to addressing climate damage.
“It’s time for governments to tax these windfall profits – and use them to help vulnerable countries recover. Polluters must pay,” he said.
Guterres warned that global emissions reached an all-time high in 2025, while the last four years were the hottest on record. He said exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature threshold under the Paris Agreement was now inevitable but urged countries to intensify efforts to limit the scale and duration of the overshoot.
He called for global emissions to fall by approximately six per cent annually and advocated a new Climate Justice Compact to ensure developing countries receive the finance and technology needed for clean energy transitions and climate protection.
He also urged developed countries to deliver at least $300 billion annually in climate finance by 2035 and provide clear plans to at least triple adaptation finance within the same period.
Stiell urged world leaders to accelerate climate action, saying international cooperation could ease inflationary pressures, strengthen energy security, and protect national economies from global shocks.
At the High-Level Segment for Heads of State and Government, Stiell said international cooperation had helped reduce projected global warming from well over four degrees Celsius to about 2.6 degrees, while investments in clean energy had overtaken those in fossil fuels.
However, he warned that progress remained inadequate and climate benefits were not being shared equitably, particularly with vulnerable countries.
“Action is not yet fast enough – the science demands we drastically pace up. And it’s not yet fair enough – the benefits have not been shared equally,” he said.
Stiell identified electrification, tripling adaptation finance, and improving access to climate funding as key priorities for COP31.
Bowen described the global situation as a “polycrisis”, citing energy insecurity, armed conflicts, rising living costs, technological disruption and worsening climate impacts.
He said the challenges had placed multilateralism under pressure, but called for stronger international cooperation rather than a retreat from collective action.
Bowen said renewable energy, electrification, and diversified energy sources could help countries address energy security concerns while advancing climate objectives.
On climate finance, he called for funding to become faster, simpler and fairer, expressing concern that only 0.2 per cent of adaptation finance reached small island developing states.
Meanwhile, day four of COP31 featured discussions on green industrialisation, investment, and jobs, with the COP31 Presidency, Germany, and the United Kingdom hosting a high-level dialogue on generating employment and economic growth through green industries.
Other sessions examined international cooperation on accessible early warning systems, water resilience, and climate-health interventions under the Global Climate Action Agenda.
Chiemelie Ezeobi
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