COP31: Guterres Urges Leaders to Tax Oil Windfall Profits to Fund Climate Recovery
Chiemelie Eze in Antalya, Türkiye
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, warning that fossil fuel interests are undermining the global fight against climate change.
Guterres made the call on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the COP31 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya, Türkiye, where he highlighted the disparity between the huge profits made by oil companies and the limited resources available to countries suffering climate-related losses.
He said the nine largest oil companies recorded $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 oil companies made in approximately 14 hours what the fund had received, underscoring the need for those benefiting from fossil fuel activities to contribute to addressing the damage caused by climate change.
“It’s time for governments to tax these windfall profits – and use them to help vulnerable countries recover. Polluters must pay,” he said.
The UN chief warned that the climate crisis was accelerating, with global emissions reaching 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 set under the Paris Agreement was now inevitable, but urged countries not to abandon efforts to limit the scale and duration of the overshoot.
“Science tells us an overshoot above that level is now inevitable. But science is not telling us to surrender. It’s telling us to fight harder,” he said.
Guterres called for global emissions to fall by approximately six per cent annually, warning that existing national climate plans would deliver, at best, only one-third of the required reductions.
He also advocated a new Climate Justice Compact to ensure developing countries have access to the finance and technology required to transition to cleaner energy and protect vulnerable communities.
He noted that emerging and developing economies outside China account for nearly two-thirds of the world’s population but receive less than one-fifth of global clean-energy investments.
The Secretary-General urged developed countries to provide at least $300 billion annually in climate finance by 2035 and set out clear plans to at least triple adaptation finance within the same period.
He further called for increased investment in renewable energy, electricity grids and storage systems, as well as stronger adaptation measures, including early warning systems and support for communities affected by floods, droughts and rising sea levels.
Guterres warned that geopolitical rivalries and international fragmentation could make the global energy transition more expensive and leave billions of people behind, urging countries to prioritise cooperation in tackling the climate crisis.
The UN chief, who is due to leave office next year, pledged to sustain his advocacy for climate action.
“I will not stop telling the truth. And I will not stop fighting for it,” he said.