Despite clamour for reduction in the use of fossil fuel, a total of 14 companies have been reported to have in 12 months made profit windfalls of $346.713bn, data by ActionAid has revealed.
The report recently released by ActionAid showed that the fossil fuel firms, between June 2021 and June 2022, made $232 billion in net profits, $155.039 billion of which was considered profit windfalls.
According to the ActionAid report, “In the 12 months to July 2023, the top 14 fossil fuel companies by market capitalization, collectively made $278 billion in net profits, an increase of an astounding 278 per cent compared to the average of the reference years (mid-2017 to mid-2021).
“Of these $278 billion net profits, $192b billion can be considered windfall profits – profits that exceed the average from the preceding four years by over 20 per cent.”
It added that in the same period under review – June 2021 to June 2023 – the top 22 financial corporations collectively made $78bn as profit windfalls.
According to the document, on the first day of COP27 in 2022, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, had “asked governments to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies and redirect that money to those in need and countries suffering loss and damage due to climate change impacts.”
However, one year on, it was said that only some European Union Member States, the United Kingdom, and a few Latin American countries have introduced some forms of temporary and often limited windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies, leaving colossal profits undertaxed – and climate action underfunded.
