Friday, March 29

The UN demands that energy companies pay for the benefits that fell from the sky to compensate for their environmental impact


The COP begins, the Climate Summit 2022, the demands for commitment begin and the UN joins the idea that oil companies collaborate in the fight against climate change. The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has demanded this Monday that “all governments” introduce taxes on the extraordinary profits obtained by fossil energy companies to address the problems derived from the rise in food prices and energy and the damage suffered by countries affected by climate change, reports Efe.

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During the opening of the Implementation Summit –as the forum of world leaders that takes place within the framework of the COP27 Climate Summit is called–, which brings together nearly a hundred heads of state and government in the Egyptian city of Sharm the Sheikh this Monday and Tuesday, the UN leader has joined an idea defended by some world leaders such as Pedro Sánchez. The last to join this list, although at the moment in the form of a threat, was the American Joe Biden last week.

“I call on all governments to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies. Let’s redirect money to people suffering from rising energy and food prices and to countries suffering loss and damage from the climate crisis.”

The president also referred to the situation of developing countries, which suffer the consequences of climate change but are hardly responsible for the polluting emissions that have caused it. Guterres spoke of compensation and pointed out that this meeting should agree on “a precise map with a clear timetable that reflects the scale of the urgency of the challenge.”

“This plan must include effective institutional arrangements for its financing,” he said.

For the UN Secretary General, obtaining “concrete results” in this regard is the high water mark that will determine “the commitment of governments to the success of COP27.”

For a pact between rich and poor

Guterres also called for developed and emerging economies to establish a “climate solidarity pact” for all countries to “make the extra effort to reduce emissions this decade in line with the 1.5 degree target.”

This agreement must also guarantee that rich countries and international institutions – largely responsible for the current climate situation – “provide financial and technical assistance to help emerging economies accelerate their own transition to renewable energy” –already that they are being required to limit their emissions – and “end dependency on fossil fuels”.

It also contemplates “phasing out coal in OECD countries by 2030 and in all others by 2040”.

To do this, he reminded the United States and China, the two largest economies in the world, that they have “a particular responsibility to join forces to make this pact a reality”, which represents the “only hope to achieve climate goals”.

The UN Secretary General has also admitted that the war in Ukraine and other similar conflicts have an impact throughout the world, but has insisted that it is unacceptable that attention is not focused on climate change and in fact, he explained, the The war has exposed the risks of dependence on fossil fuels.

“Climate change is another scale, it is the challenge of our century, of our era and it is unacceptable to accept defeat and leave it relegated to a secondary issue”, assured the Portuguese. “The climate fight will be won or lost in these few crucial years,” he predicted.



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