Skip to main content
Make Rich Polluters Pay

Make Rich Polluters Pay

A better future is not a world away, but the richest polluters must pay.

By signing this petition, you agree that Oxfam Australia may contact you about the progress of this campaign and different opportunities to support its work around the world, including fundraising. You consent to Oxfam Australia collecting and handling your personal information in accordance with its privacy policy. If you have any questions, please email us at enquire@oxfam.org.au or call 1800 088 110

We want a world of possibility, not poverty

We want a world of possibility, not poverty. A more equal world where any of us vulnerable to the climate crisis have the resources to survive extreme weather, and the opportunity to build sustainable futures for generations to come.

Climate change is doing irreversible harm to people and our planet. Not only is it ruining the lives of the poorest and most marginalized people, but these same people – who have contributed least to causing this crisis – are paying the highest price for its impact.

The biggest polluters, who are raking in record profits and amassing huge fortunes, must pay for the climate crisis they created and the cost of building a fairer future.

Make rich polluters pay

A wealth tax on the richest 1%

Fossil fuel corporations are responsible for 70% of global emissions and have been making record profits over the last year. Meanwhile billionaires are generating a million times more emissions than the average person.

Governments should tax wealth to dramatically reduce the cumulative emissions of the richest and raise billions of dollars that can be used to help countries cope with the brutal impacts of climate breakdown and the losses and damages incurred.

For example, an annual wealth tax of up to 5 percent on the world’s multi-millionaires and billionaires could
raise $1.7 trillion a year.

In addition, steep rates of top-up taxation should be implemented on wealth generated from polluting industries. Such a tax has been proposed by economists Thomas Piketty and Lucas Chancel, who calculate that, globally, an additional tax rate of 10% on polluting assets owned by billionaires could raise at least $100bn a year and would also help to discourage investors from putting their money into polluting industries.

Tax or outright ban the planet-wrecking luxuries of the super-rich

Governments should heavily tax, or in some cases simply ban, the climate-wrecking purchases of the ultra- wealthy including mega yachts, private jets, and space tourism.

Taxing fossil fuel corporations

Governments should create a permanent tax of up to 90% on the excess profits of fossil fuel companies [and other polluting corporations]. The tax should kick in when profits are in excess of 10% average, and also work in combination with removing any subsidies for fossil fuel production.

Make rich polluters pay

Meet the activists

Lagi Seru

Lavetanalagi (‘Lagi’) Seru is based in Fiji and has a background in youth development and human rights. He is a policy expert in humanitarian response in the Pacific, is the co-founder of the Alliance for Future Generations and currently works for the Pacific Island Climate Action Network (PICAN).

Hilda Nakabuye

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is a Ugandan climate and environmental rights activist and founder of Fridays for Future Uganda, the largest youth movement in East Africa. She is based in Kampala, and focuses on raising awareness and mobilizing students and young people. She organizes clean up sessions in Lake Victoria, fights for racial and gender justice, and also campaigns for a phase out of fossil fuel.

Pavel Martiarena Huamán

Pavel Martiarena is an activist and photographer from Madre de Dios*, where he fights against extractivism in the Amazon region. He is co-founder of “Generación Verde”, a collective that is part of Oxfam’s Actua.pe platform, with them he won the ‘Raise your voice for the Amazon’ contest. Pavel also leads various spaces working with indigenous youth.
*A region in the Amazon basin of southeastern Peru, bordering Brazil and Bolivia.

Marinel Samook Ubaldo

Marinel Ubaldo is a climate activist from the Philippines, who is currently studying in the US. Her journey into climate activism began after experiencing first-hand the effects of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Marinel organized the first climate strike in her country. She advocates for a ban on single-use plastics, the reduction of carbon emissions and investments in renewable energy.

Read our reports

If you break it fix it report

If you break it, fix it: Australia’s global obligations for a just climate transition

The stark contrast between where the impacts of climate change will be felt and which countries produce the majority of climate pollution reminds us that both the causes and impacts of climate change are distributed very unequally. Addressing this inequity is one of the most important features of a just response to climate change.

READ MORE

Embedding Equality in the New Loss and Damage Fund Part 1

The most profound challenges we face today are the intertwining crises of climate change and inequality. While extreme corporate and billionaire wealth are skyrocketing globally, often off the back of polluting industries, the impacts of climate change are deepening inequality and poverty.

READ MORE
Embedding Equality in the new Loss and Damage Fund

Embedding Equality in the New Loss and Damage Fund Part 2

Explore the inequities in current climate funds, particularly for Pacific Island countries, and explain how the Loss and Damage Fund can avoid barriers to access and ensure locally led action and participation for those on the frontline of the climate crisis.

Read more

A better future isn’t a world away. But rich polluters must pay

Rich polluters must begin compensating for the devastation they’ve caused to the environment and the lives of people who have done the least to cause the climate crisis. Urge Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers to properly tax rich polluters now.

Make rich polluters pay