It's a new front for multinational oil and gas companies to watch. Already at the heart of debates at the 28th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), where negotiators are looking for the right words to reduce the production and consumption of fossil fuels, industrialists are also in the sights of those who want to capture a proportion of their profits to finance the climate transition. "There are many financial streams not contributing to solutions for avoiding the most catastrophic consequences of climate change," said Laurence Tubiana, President of the European Climate Foundation, who is taking part in the work of a task force on international taxation, on Wednesday, December 6. "It's about lifting a taboo."
Conceived at the Paris summit for a new global financial pact on June 12 and 13, this group was launched by France and Kenya, joined by Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Spain. It's expected to work on "new financial resources," in the words of the French president's office. The original intention was pretty clear: getting the biggest greenhouse gas emitters to contribute. Tubiana, Ali Mohamed, the Kenyan president's special climate envoy, and Avinash Persaud, the Barbadian prime minister's special envoy, already mentioned the first taxation avenues at COP28. These will be on business seats in air transport, on financial transactions and services, and on shipping, but also on barrels of oil...
"The impact of climate change is becoming much greater than the resources available to us," said Mohamed, before referring to one of the most complex knots in climate diplomacy. "We are ready to make efforts on mitigation, of course, but we're constrained by our financial situations." In the Nairobi Declaration, issued at the end of the African climate summit held from September 4 to 6, leaders were already pushing for a carbon tax on fossil fuel trade, shipping and aviation.
"We're not asking for 1,000 billion, we're asking for 2.5% of their profits, which is what we need for loss and damage in developing countries," continued Persaud. "As an ex-banker, I'm often faced with former colleagues who tell me 'these are very good ideas, but it's impossible to implement.' There are already $30 billion in taxes [€28 billion] levied every year on financial transactions, we need to extend it to other sectors."
'The current financing offer is still highly inadequate'
This task force will be working for two years to try and clarify this issue before COP30 in Brazil. Many Western countries, particularly those of the European Union (EU) – the main providers of aid – would like to see the private sector playing a greater role. This would ensure that they are not the only ones being put under pressure by developing countries, one of the stumbling blocks at many COPs.
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