After record profits: Greens want to ask fossil companies to pay

In view of the high profits of oil and gas companies, the Greens are calling for a climate resilience tax to be imposed on the companies' fossil profits. “It must become unprofitable to invest in fossil fuels,” says Lisa Badum, climate policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the Bundestag. The tax is intended to “reduce the power of corporations”.

Thanks to rising fossil energy prices as a result of the Iran war, oil and gas producer Shell made more than $10 billion in profits in the third quarter of this year, doubling its profits compared to the same period last year. TotalEnergies also doubled its profits, reporting $8.3 billion in profits. BP even quadrupled its profits over the same period: they swelled to an unprecedented $8.5 billion. The fossil fuel companies recently reported record profits after the Russian attack on Ukraine, when oil and gas prices around the world also rose sharply. Burning fossil fuels fuels climate change.

Badum does not share the concern that energy prices could rise even further because of a tax on these profits: “We see from the profits that the companies obviously have a buffer to lower prices, and yet they don’t do it.”

With their call, the Greens are joining Spain's proposal to pay for damage caused by climate change through EU-wide taxation of fossil fuel companies.

“There is a connection between the months in which these companies made record profits and the billions in damage that hit Europe during the hot summer,” says Badum. “We need money to adapt to climate change and to move away from fossil fuels.”

A corresponding proposal from the Greens will be heard in the Bundestag next week. He has no chance of success. “We have to discuss such a levy until it becomes unavoidable at some point,” says Badum. “It must become normal for fossil fuel companies to pay for the destruction they have caused.” The reason for the application is the UN climate summit, which will take place in Turkey in mid-November.