By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -United Nations Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres on Wednesday slammed the “grotesque greed” of oil and fuel corporations and their monetary backers and urged governments globally to “tax these extreme earnings” to assist probably the most susceptible folks.
“It’s immoral for oil and fuel corporations to be making file earnings from this vitality disaster on the backs of the poorest folks and communities, at an enormous value to the local weather,” Guterres instructed reporters.
The 2 largest U.S. oil corporations, Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and Chevron Corp CVX.N, British-based Shell and France’s TotalEnergies mixed earned practically $51 billion in the latest quarter, virtually double what the group introduced in for the year-ago interval.
“I urge all governments to tax these extreme earnings, and use the funds to assist probably the most susceptible folks by means of these troublesome occasions,” Guterres mentioned.
“And I urge folks all over the place to ship a transparent message to the fossil gas trade and their financiers: that this grotesque greed is punishing the poorest and most susceptible folks, whereas destroying our solely frequent residence,” he mentioned.
Politicians and client advocates have criticised the oil corporations for capitalizing on a world provide scarcity to fatten earnings and gouge customers. U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned in June that Exxon and others had been making “more cash than God” at a time when client gas costs surged to data.
Final month, Britain handed a 25% windfall tax on oil and fuel producers within the North Sea. U.S. lawmakers have mentioned an identical concept, although it faces lengthy odds in Congress.
Guterres mentioned Russia’s warfare in Ukraine and the local weather breakdown was stoking a world meals, vitality and finance disaster.
“Many creating international locations – drowning in debt, with out entry to finance, and struggling to recuperate from the COVID-19 pandemic – might go over the brink,” he mentioned. “We’re already seeing the warning indicators of a wave of financial, social and political upheaval that would go away no nation untouched.”
(Reporting by Michelle NicholsEditing by Rami Ayyub and Chizu Nomiyama)
