2 yıl önce

UN chief blasts oil firms profiting from energy crisis

It was "immoral" that largest energy companies in first quarter of 2022 made combined profits of close to $100 billion, says Antonio Guterres, urging governments to tax excessive profits.

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Guterres slams some developed countries for introducing universal subsidies at gasoline pumps and reopening coal plants.

The United Nations chief has sharply criticised the "grotesque greed" of oil and gas companies for making record profits from the energy crisis on the back of the world's poorest people, "while destroying our only home."

Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday it was "immoral" that the largest energy companies in the first quarter of the year made combined profits of close to $100 billion.

He urged all governments to tax these excessive profits "and use the funds to support the most vulnerable people through these difficult times."

Guterres urged people everywhere to send a message to the fossil fuel industry and their financiers that "this grotesque greed is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people while destroying our only home."

He spoke at the news conference launching a report by the Global Crisis Response Group he set up to tackle the triple interconnected crises of food, energy and finance which have especially hit countries trying to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and deal with the devastating impact of the conflict in Ukraine.

The combined profits of the largest energy companies in the first quarter of this year are close to $100 billion.

This grotesque greed of the fossil fuel industry and their financiers is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people, while destroying our only home.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 4, 2022

Nature-based solutions

The group has already presented recommendations on food and finance and Guterres said he believes "we are making some progress" in those areas, especially on food.

The report focuses on the energy crisis, and the secretary general said it aims to achieve the equivalent of the grain deal that enables Ukrainian grain to be shipped from Russian-blockaded ports on the Black Sea to world markets.

The first ship to leave Ukraine was headed to Lebanon on Wednesday after a three-hour inspection in Turkish waters.

In another key recommendation, the group urges richer developed countries, especially, to conserve energy and promote public transport "and nature-based solutions."

Guterres said new technologies including storage for batteries "should become public goods," and governments must scale up and diversify supply chains for raw materials and renewable energy technologies.

Impact of climate crisis

The group also recommends scaling up private and multilateral finance for "the green energy transition."

And it backed the International Energy Agency’s goal of increasing investments in renewable energy by a factor of seven to meet the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to "net zero" by 2050 to help curb the man-made climate crisis.

"Every country is part of this energy crisis, and all countries are paying attention to what others are doing," Guterres said. "There is no place for hypocrisy."

He said many developing countries living with severe impacts of the climate crisis including storms, wildfires, floods and drought don’t lack a reason to invest in renewable energy but they need "concrete, workable options".

Guterres criticised some developed countries for introducing universal subsidies at gasoline pumps and reopening coal plants, saying it's difficult to justify these actions even on a temporary basis.

He said any subsidies and reopening of coal plants "must be strictly time-bound and targeted" to ease the energy burden on the poor and promote the transition to renewables.

SOURCE: AP