UN receives more than 2 million signatures on polluter accountability — Climate Home News
In New York, United States, global petitions with more than 2 million signatures were submitted to the United Nations. Their initiators are calling on governments to introduce mandatory mechanisms under which fossil fuel companies and ultra-wealthy individuals would contribute to covering the damage caused.
During the UN General Assembly, the signatures were received by Selwin Hart, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Action. As Climate Home News reports, the petitions collected signatures from people in all regions of the world.
Proposals for taxes and penalties
In an op-ed, 350.org Executive Director Anne Jellema, Greenpeace International Executive Director Mads Christensen and Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar advocated for climate damage taxes, levies on fossil fuel companies’ profits and penalties. In their view, such funds should be specifically directed toward recovery, adaptation to climate change, clean energy and support for communities affected by natural disasters.
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The op-ed’s authors state that households are paying more for energy, while governments are spending billions on emergency response, reconstruction and aid. At the same time, they say, companies that extract, process, transport and sell fossil fuels continue to earn substantial profits.
Events cited by the authors
As arguments in favor of this approach, the authors mentioned shipping problems through the Strait of Hormuz, a collapse of ice, rocks and water on the Nepal-China border at the end of August, as well as large-scale wildfires in Europe. They link these events to the vulnerability of an oil-dependent economy and the consequences of climate change.
The petition initiators emphasize that voluntary commitments and distant plans to achieve net-zero emissions are insufficient. They call on governments to introduce mandatory mechanisms to finance recovery and adaptation at the expense of those who profit from the fossil fuel economy.
