Guterres urges COP31 governments to tax fossil fuel windfalls

Guterres said the past four years were the hottest on record and that global emissions reached a new high in 2025. “Fossil fuel interests keep making a killing while killing our planet,” he said, warning that climate disasters were damaging lives, livelihoods and economies. He called the climate crisis a race the world was losing and said fossil fuels must be phased out, accusing the industry of distorting science and delaying policy and action.

His remarks followed the World Meteorological Organization’s “State of the Climate” report, released at the conference two days earlier. It said the past 12 years were the warmest on record and that warming had accelerated particularly since 2022. A UN report last month concluded that avoiding a rise above 1.5°C from preindustrial levels was no longer possible; experts now say governments should seek to make any overshoot temporary. The Paris Agreement set the 1.5°C limit at COP21.

Guterres pointed to profits reported by major oil companies alongside the shortfall in climate funding. ExxonMobil recorded $17.5 billion in adjusted earnings for the third quarter of 2026, Chevron $10.4 billion, Shell $10.8 billion for July to September, and TotalEnergies $9.1 billion. He said the nine largest oil companies made $95 billion in the last quarter, while the Loss and Damage Fund had received about $600 million. Experts and developing countries say the fund needs roughly $400 billion a year to help poorer nations adapt and repair damage. Guterres urged governments to direct taxes on windfall profits toward vulnerable countries.

Advocacy groups also pressed COP31’s leaders to agree on a transition away from fossil fuels. Oil Change International’s David Tong called for taxing superprofits and limiting fossil-fuel companies’ political influence. 350.org said Türkiye and Australia, COP31’s co-presidents, should turn support for a transition into a commitment. It said Türkiye was open to considering a roadmap initiative launched at COP30 in Brazil, while Australia had offered no clear way to advance it.

The summit is the second consecutive UN climate conference without an official US delegation. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are also absent. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is the only G7 leader attending. Guterres said the absence of wealthy-country leaders did not mean the science called for surrender: “It is telling us to fight harder.”