Everyday people are paying the price of climate change, while big coal, oil and gas corporations are making huge profits.

These corporations, who are responsible for 75% of Australia’s climate pollution, are taking billions in government handouts and often pay less tax in Australia than our teachers or nurses.

Meanwhile, communities and government budgets in Australia and the Pacific are paying the price for climate change through increasing insurance bills, food prices, and huge recovery costs from more severe storms, drought, bushfires and floods.

It’s unfair and unjust. But we can do something about it.

Join us in demanding climate justice by:

  • Urging the Australian Government make coal, oil and gas corporations pay for their climate harms now though a Climate Pollution Levy.
  • Advocating for funds raised from these big corporations to go into a Climate Compensation Fund to support communities in Australia and our region already experiencing the destructive impacts and costs of climate change

It’s time to make big polluters pay

Communities in Australia and our Pacific region are paying the price for climate change. The cost of climate disasters in Australia is now $38 billion per year, equivalent to $3,800 per household on average.

The costs are highest for communities directly hit by disasters. Some of these families may never recover financially or emotionally after losing everything. In Vanuatu, for example, a shocking three severe cyclones hit in 2023, costing nearly 70% of the country’s annual GDP in recovery costs.
It’s time big polluting corporations pay their fair share. They produce three quarters of Australia’s climate pollution and should be contributing to the costs of climate damage and disaster recovery, instead of local communities and government budgets.
Funds raised through a Climate Pollution Levy on big coal, oil and gas corporations must go into a Climate Compensation Fund that can help support communities with climate disasters and offsetting rising household costs.
Will you join us? Demand the government take action to ensure big corporations polluting our climate have to pay their fair share to support impacted communities.
Urge the Federal Climate Change Minister to make big polluting corporations pay now.

Dear Federal Climate Change Minister,

People everywhere are paying the price of impacts from climate change, including through increasing insurance bills, food prices, and huge recovery costs from more severe storms, drought, bushfires and floods.

Meanwhile, polluting coal, oil and gas corporations are making huge profits, often pay no taxes, and are failing to contribute to responding to the harms of climate change. It is only fair that the government holds these polluters to account for their climate damages.

We ask you to make coal, oil and gas corporations pay a Climate Pollution Levy on their fossil fuel extraction to generate the funds needed to compensate communities with cost increases and to recover from floods, storms, bushfires, sea-level rise and other climate change impacts.

Headline

Destructive weather fueled by climate change is causing an increase floods, fires, and historic famines that are devastating lives all over the world. Whilst climate change affects us all, it hurts some people more than others and many communities are struggling to survive. Women, young people, First Peoples, and those already experiencing poverty or inequality are at greatest risk. The climate crisis and the system that created it are the biggest contributors to global poverty and inequality today. Years of reckless climate policy has allowed fossil fuel giants to get rich by mining and burning coal, oil and gas like there’s no tomorrow while those who contributed least to the crisis are plunged deeper into poverty. It is estimated that climate change could drive a further 122 million people into extreme poverty by 2030.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is loss and damage?

‘Loss and damage’ is the term used for climate impacts which cannot be or haven’t been prevented or avoided through reducing emissions or adapting to climate change. The ‘loss’ refers to things that are irreversibly lost such as lives, a way of living or historical site, while the ‘damage’ refers to things that can be repaired or recovered such as homes, roads or crop yields.

How can we prevent and avoid loss and damage impacts from climate change?

We must urgently increase our ambition and action to reduce carbon emissions to prevent climate change impacts becoming even more severe. Oxfam is calling for the Australian government to set a new target of 75% emission reductions by 2030 and net zero by 2035 in line with what science says needs to be done to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Wealthy countries like Australia must also financially support communities in developing countries to adapt to climate change that is already occurring. This might mean planting more drought resistant crops, relocating homes and gardens vulnerable to sea level rise, and finding new and secure water sources. These actions can help avoid loss and damage impacts.

What is the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage?

At the UNFCC COP 28 meeting in 2023, countries established a Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage for low-income countries most adversely impacted by the climate crisis.

This Fund is currently being designed, and Oxfam is calling for it to ensure local communities most impacted by climate change can access the support needed to recover from extreme weather – such as clean water during a drought, or funds to help rebuild after homes are destroyed by floods. We are also calling for the fund to support relocation of communities impacted by sea level rise, such as those in the Pacific.

Who are the polluters that should pay?

The money must be raised from those within Australia and other wealthy nations who are historically responsible for the climate crisis through their high emissions. Within Australia, the tax should be applied to those who are most responsible for the problem and who can afford to fix it – the fossil fuel companies making billions in profits and the richest 1% of people (who Oxfam research shows are most responsible for the climate crisis).

Why must our Government act?

It’s the Government’s responsibility to raise the money from Australia’s biggest polluters for the Loss and Damage Fund and for climate finance for adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. They can do this by redirecting the subsidies that are going into polluters’ pockets and by taxing them properly.

How will this make a difference?

As well as helping communities avoid and recover from extreme weather events and continue their work developing solutions for the challenges they’re facing – it sends a signal to big polluters that they must take responsibility for their actions. Moving us closer to climate justice for all.

Who is most affected by the climate crisis?

Climate change is being felt most by people in countries that have done the least to cause the crisis. According to climate scientists, over 3.3 billion people live in places highly vulnerable to climate change and these are often low-income countries with many people living in poverty.

Inequality and discrimination mean that this injustice is often felt more deeply as a result of race, gender, sexuality, disability, income or all of these combined.

What are your sources for the statistics you’ve shared?”


It's time to make big polluters pay

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