The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has issued a demand that oil and gas companies pay higher taxes. His comments come at a time when industrial profits have reached all-time highs as a direct result of the increased cost of energy that has been caused by the situation in Ukraine. Mr. Guterres thinks that it is “immoral” for firms to profit from the crisis in any way, shape, or form. As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the global shortage of oil and gas has worsened. Therefore, access to oil and gas from Russia, a major source, has been blocked, which has led to an increase in prices.
While consumers face challenges due to rising energy prices, companies are seeing financial gains. While Shell’s profits from April through June established a new record, BP just reported its highest profit in 14 years, which it did just recently. The four major energy firms, Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and TotalEnergies, made a combined profit of around $51 billion in the most recent quarter, which is nearly twice as much as they made during the same period the previous year.
According to Mr. Guterres, those who are the least fortunate and most susceptible to harm are the ones who are being punished by this merciless avarice, which is also destroying our shared home. He asked all governments to impose a tax on individuals’ excessive earnings so that they can assist the most helpless people in getting through this difficult moment. A “windfall tax” of 25 percent was imposed on energy corporations by the United Kingdom last month. The government anticipates that this one-time levy will bring in approximately £25 billion, which will go toward mitigating the impact of rising energy prices on households.
Other countries, like Italy, have also implemented legislation that is quite similar to these. In spite of this, and even though certain members of Congress in the United States have proposed a windfall tax, French legislators have recently opposed such a move. As people and governments all around the world began to break under the burden of high energy costs, Mr. Guterres issued a warning that these consequences would have far-reaching repercussions.
According to what he indicated, many developing countries could be on the verge of collapse because they are fighting a losing battle to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, are awash in debt, and do not have access to funding.
“We are already seeing the warning signs of a wave of economic, social, and political upheaval that would leave no country untouched.”
