At the United Nations in New York, activists turned in petitions carrying more than 2 million signatures to press fossil fuel companies to help cover the climate harms they create.
Here's what to know
During the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the Make Polluters Pay International Coalition handed the petitions to Selwin Hart, the U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Action. As 350.org noted, the signature amount is a combined total from participating petitions and may include duplicate signers. But it's still an incredible show of support for climate justice regardless.
The coalition wants governments to enact enforceable policy that shifts more climate damage costs onto fossil fuel companies. The group's proposals include climate damage taxes and higher charges on fossil fuel profits.
"Polluters must pay, and the U.N. supports this effort," Hart said, as 350.org relayed. "We are with you. We urge you to use every single legal and lawful tool at your disposal. Regulate, legislate and litigate. Civil society must use every tool at your disposal to hold the polluters accountable. You are on the right side of history."
Anne Jellema, executive director of 350.org, said, "We pay. They profit. It's time to change that."
More background
Deadly climate disasters and ongoing energy volatility tied to oil and gas dependence have heightened the campaign's urgency. Organizers say appeals to security or climate justice mean little if communities still have to absorb the costs of climate disruption.
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When extreme weather events like wildfires and floods strike, people can lose homes, livelihoods, harvests, and savings. Insurance costs can rise, and these tragedies force communities that already face pressure to rebuild again and again.
"The climate crisis is here, and it falls hardest on the people who did the least to cause it," said Mads Christensen, executive director of Greenpeace International.
The most recent example of what Christensen is referring to would be the floods that happened in Nepal this past August. And people there are demanding the support they need to rebuild their lives.
What's being done?
Another key demand is to keep fossil fuel profits taxed at permanently higher levels and require companies to help finance climate recovery, adaptation, and the shift to clean, affordable renewable energy.
Louise Hutchins, a co-founder of the Make Polluters Pay International Coalition, said, "The movement for polluters to pay is growing rapidly, public pressure is mounting, and the politics are shifting. Politicians are starting to listen."
Hart's remarks mentioned earlier suggest more than one route for action. Litigation, regulation, and taxation could each move climate-related costs from ordinary people back onto the companies campaigners say caused them.
Where can I learn more?
The fight over who should pay for climate damage is also playing out in many other places around the world.
• In New York, lawmakers advanced legislation that would foot Big Oil the bill for climate damages.
• Lawmakers proposed legislation that would make big polluters pay $1 trillion for climate damage.
• At the United Nations, officials warned of a massive disinformation campaign by fossil fuel interests.
• In Geneva, a public health expert urged WHO members to bar fossil fuel companies from negotiations.
• Shell sparked outrage after moving to repeal a key promise on cutting climate-heating emissions.
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