The fossil fuel ‘superprofits’ that could fund climate action

More than one trillion dollars in ‘superprofits’ from fossil fuel companies should be used to fund climate change mitigation efforts in the majority world, energy experts say.

According to research published in Climate Policy this month, 93 of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies raked in a whopping $1,085 bn in 2022 — $450 bn more than projected for the year thanks to soaring energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

‘There is plenty of potential funding out there in the hands of the fossil fuel companies that helped create this [climate crisis],’ says Florian Egli of the Technical University of Munich and the lead author of the study. The total superprofits were split between government-controlled companies and private companies. Over half of the private superprofits ($143 billion) went to companies headquartered in the US, while a further 37 per cent ($103 billion) went to companies in the UK, France and Canada.

Egli and her team are advocating for these countries to incorporate a ‘superprofit tax’ into their climate policies at COP29 and the G20 Summit, which are taking place in Azerbaijan and Brazil respectively this week.