BONN, Germany – It is now emerging that the overwhelming majority of people think that governments should impose taxes on oil, gas, and coal companies for climate-related losses and damages.
Y News has established that these people also believe that their governments are not doing enough to combat the political power of wealthy individuals and polluting industries.
These are the main conclusions of a global survey that included responses from South Africa and Kenya. The survey’s findings show widespread agreement across age groups, income levels, and political affiliations.
Launched during the UN Climate Meetings in Bonn (SB62), where government representatives are debating climate policies, including strategies to raise at least US$ 1.3 trillion (Sh167 trillion) annually in climate finance for Global South countries by 2035.
The study was co-commissioned by Greenpeace International and Oxfam International. Thirteen nations, including the majority of the G7, participated in the study.
What should governments do to combat fossil emissions
According to Sherelee Odayar, Oil and Gas Campaigner for Greenpeace Africa, in Africa, people are feeling the heat—literally—and they’re done footing the bill for disasters driven by record fossil-fuel profits.
“This survey sends an unmistakable message: our governments have a popular mandate to make oil, gas and coal corporations pay their fair share for the floods, droughts and hunger they’ve helped unleash. A polluter-pays tax would turn dirty profits into clean investments for frontline communities, and that’s the climate justice Africa has been calling for,” said Odayar.
On his part, Ali Mohamed, Special Envoy for Climate Change, Kenya, said that African leaders adopted the Nairobi Declaration during the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, which among others, calls for a global carbon taxation regime, including levies on fossil fuel trade.
“Kenya co-chairs the Global Solidarity Levies Taskforce, which brings together a coalition of willing countries to design and implement progressive levies that reflect the true cost of pollution. The principle is simple, sectors profiting from the increasing greenhouse gas emissions that cause the destructive climate change, must be taxed to support climate-impacted vulnerable communities in Africa and other developing world, adapt and recover from the devastating losses and damages being suffered so frequently,” Mohamed explained.
On the other hand, Mads Christensen, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, said that the survey results send a clear message that people are no longer buying the lies.
“They see the fingerprints of fossil fuel giants all over the storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires devastating their lives, and they want accountability. By taxing the obscene profits of dirty energy companies, governments can unlock billions to protect communities and invest in real climate solutions. It’s only fair that those who caused the crisis should pay for the damage, not those suffering from it,” explained Mads.
Why the Polluters Pay Pact is critical for climate action
The study, run by Dynata, was unveiled alongside the Polluters Pay Pact, a global alliance of communities on the frontlines of climate disasters. The Pact demands that – instead of piling the costs on ordinary people – governments make oil, gas and coal corporations pay their fair share for the damages they cause, through the introduction of new taxes and fines.
The Pact is backed by firefighters and other first responders, trade unions and worker groups, and mayors from countries including Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and South Africa, the US, and plaintiffs in landmark climate cases from Pacific Island states to Switzerland.
The Pact is also supported by over 60 NGOs, including Oxfam International, 350.org, Avaaz, Islamic Relief UK, Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), Indian Hawkers Alliance, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, Jubilee Australia and the Greenpeace network.
Y News knows that the survey’s findings, published today, Thursday, June 19, 2025, reveal broad public support for the core demands of the Polluters Pay Pact, as climate impacts worsen worldwide and global inequality grows.
The research was conducted by first-party data company Dynata in May-June 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the U.S.
How the Global Survey was conducted amid the climate crisis
With approximately 1200 respondents in each country and a theoretical margin of error of approximately 2.83%, together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population.
Key findings of the survey include: 81% of people surveyed would support taxes on the oil, gas, and coal industry to pay for damages caused by fossil-fuel driven climate disasters like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires. 86% of people in surveyed countries support channelling revenues from higher taxes on oil and gas corporations towards communities most impacted by the climate crisis.
Climate change is disproportionately hitting people in Global South countries, who are historically least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
When asked who should be taxed to pay for helping survivors of fossil-fuel-driven climate disasters, 66% of people across countries surveyed think it should be oil and gas companies, while just 5% support taxes on working people, 9% on goods people buy, and 20% favour business taxes.
68% felt that the fossil fuel industry and the super-rich had a negative influence on politics in their country. 77% say they would be more willing to support a political candidate who prioritises taxing the super-rich and the fossil fuel industry.
Why are the fossil fuel companies disastrous to livelihoods
Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, observed that fossil fuel companies have known for decades about the damage their polluting products wreak on humanity.
“Corporations continue to cash in on climate devastation, and their profiteering destroys the lives and livelihoods of millions of women, men and children, predominantly those in the Global South who have done the least to cause the climate crisis,” said Behar.
According to Behar, governments must listen to their people and hold polluters responsible for their damages.
“A new tax on polluting industries could provide immediate and significant support to climate-vulnerable countries, and finally incentivise investment in renewables and a just transition,” said Behar.
Y News understands that the Polluters Pay Pact demonstrates popular support for the campaign to make polluters pay. The campaign is being waged throughout 2025 in countries worldwide and in critical international forums, including the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), and negotiations for a UN tax convention that could include new rules to make multinational oil and gas companies pay their fair share for their pollution.
