Global survey finds 8 out of 10 people support taxing oil and gas corporations to pay for climate damages
Ottawa, 19 June – A majority of people believe governments must tax oil, gas and coal corporations for climate-related loss and damage, and that their government is not doing enough to counter the influence on politics of the super-rich and polluting industries. These are the key findings of a global survey, which reflects broad consensus across political affiliations, income levels and age groups.
Today’s study, which was jointly commissioned by Greenpeace and Oxfam, was launched at the Bonn UN climate meetings (SB62 16-26 June), where governments are discussing key climate policy priorities, including ways to mobilize at least US $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for Global South countries by 2035. The poll was conducted across 13 countries, including most G7 countries.
The study, run by Dynata, comes with additional research by Oxfam showing that a polluter profits tax on 585 oil, gas and coal companies could raise up to US $400 billion in its first year. This is comparable to the estimated annual costs of climate damage in the Global South. Loss and damage costs from climate change to the Global South are estimated to reach between $290bn to $1,045bn annually by 2030.
Key findings of the survey from Canada include:
- 75% of people surveyed in Canada support new taxes on the oil, coal and gas industry to pay for damages caused by fossil-fuel driven climate disasters like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires.
- 82% of people in Canada support channelling revenues from higher taxes on oil and gas corporations towards communities who are 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, 65% of people in Canada surveyed think it should be oil and gas companies compared to fewer than 5% who support taxes on working people, 11% on goods people buy, and 20% in favour of business taxes.
- 73% felt that the fossil fuel industry and the super-rich had a negative influence on politics in Canada. 78% say they would be more willing to support a political candidate who prioritises taxing the super-rich and the fossil fuel industry.
Oxfam’s research finds that 585 of the world’s largest and most polluting fossil fuel companies made $583 billion in profits in 2024, a 68% increase since 2019. The annual emissions of 340 of these corporations (for whom data was available) accounted for over half of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. Their emissions in just one year are enough to cause 2.7 million heat-related deaths over the next century.
A polluter profits tax on these companies would ensure that renewable energy is more profitable than fossil fuels, encouraging companies to invest in renewables, as well as avoid more deaths driven by fossil fuelled climate change. This new tax must be accompanied by higher taxes on the super-rich and other polluting companies. Governments should impose such taxes nationally and engage positively at the UN to ensure a fair global tax agreement.
Lauren Ravon, Executive Director of Oxfam Canada, said:
“Mega-rich coal, oil and gas companies have had devastating impacts on communities around the world, and especially Indigenous lands and communities here in Canada. What’s worse is that they have known for decades the impacts their production is having but chose to spread misinformation and profit at the expense of 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. Canada must take the lead and work with like-minded countries to impose a new tax on polluting industries to provide immediate and significant support to climate-vulnerable countries and finally incentivise investment in renewables and a just transition.”
Notes to editors
[1] The research was conducted by market research company Dynata in May-June, 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US. Together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population. Results available here.
[2] Oxfam’s polluter profits tax model is explained in this blog and methodology note. The methodology note also explains the basis for the emissions of fossil fuel companies and their impacts on heat-related deaths. These deaths were calculated on the basis of emissions in 2023.
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