PRESS RELEASE: 85% support “ring-fencing” of oil & gas company taxes to increase government spending on climate damages, global survey finds

Sevilla, Spain, 3 July 2025

Ring-fencing levies on polluting corporations to support investment on climate resilience is facing opposition from finance ministries worldwide. Nevertheless, earmarking taxes to finance climate and other development needs is both possible and popular, according to a report published today by Stamp Out Poverty in a side-event at the 4th UN Financing for Development conference (FfD4). The report launch was accompanied by new public opinion data, commissioned by Greenpeace International.[1]

There is an alarming gap between funds available and the investment needed to shift away from oil, gas and coal to clean energy, adapt to climate change, and pay for climate-related loss and damage.[2] To generate critical public revenues for climate action and sustainable development, there is growing momentum for introducing taxes and levies on super-rich individuals and polluting industries, particularly oil and gas corporations.

Ring-fencing, earmarking or hypothecation refers to the allocation of a specific source of revenue to a predetermined purpose. Analysis from Stamp Out Poverty shows how ring-fencing of public finance from tax revenues exists today in numerous countries, and across multiple economic sectors across the world, including sovereign wealth funds, health, social- and environmental protection. It further shows how digitalisation and automation of financial systems and transfers in recent years have removed previously existing technical barriers.

Avinash Persaud, emeritus professor of Gresham College, said: “Hypothecation is effective and raises substantial revenues. It may be desired because it can ring-fence the funds against the temptation to divert them to the latest hot issue.”

A new global survey, commissioned by Greenpeace International and Oxfam International, finds 85% of respondents support the idea of governments spending more to support the victims of storms, wildfires, droughts and floods, using money raised by taxes on oil, coal and gas corporations and other polluters. Ring-fencing solidarity levies is, therefore, not only feasible and prevalent, but also a strong opportunity for governments to deliver their commitments in a way that would be popular to voters.

The FfD4 event began with testimonies from two people who live in climate-affected countries, highlighting the urgent need to raise public funds for climate action and the moral imperative of holding polluters accountable.

Climate change is an existential threat to Tuvalu, a Pacific Island State nation, which is experiencing rising sea levels as an existential threat. Last year, at the International Court of Justice, Tuvalu asserted that international law mandates states to limit global warming to 1.5C. In the FfD4 conference, Prime Minister Hon. Feleti Teo called for the fair taxation of billionaires’ wealth and multinational profits under a UN Tax Convention.[3]

H.E. Dr. Tapuga Falefou, Tuvalu’s Permanent Representative to the UN and Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleinpotentiary, said: “In Tuvalu, our shorelines are disappearing, our crops are dying from saltwater intrusion, and our people are already facing the trauma of displacement. Yet the fossil fuel industry and the super-rich continue to increase their wealth while we fight to keep our heads above water—literally. If the global tax system were reformed to ensure that those who have gained from pollution are contributing their fair share to address its consequences, we could unlock billions to support those who are the least responsible.”

Since floods claimed 224 lives in October 2024 in the western parts of the Iberian Peninsula, Greenpeace Spain has been supporting people in affected areas and highlighting how the links to fossil fuel emissions which are heating the climate.[4]

Óscar Escobar, survivor of the 2024 Valencia floods and a member of the ‘Civic Assembly for Climate’ Association, said: “What happened on October 29th 2024 was terrifying. I did not lose anyone personally, but we suffered tremendous material loss, and we are still psychologically traumatized. I have joined the Polluters Pay Pact to tell our government: tax the oil and gas industry. Make them pay for what they do to us all!”

Last month, a coalition of 60 civil society organisations, including Greenpeace International and Stamp Out Poverty, launched 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 over 170,00 people, including 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.

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Notes:

  1. To read the full analysis, visit: Stamp Out Poverty.The survey 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 US, 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. Statistics available here.
  2. See Emissions Gap Report 2024; Adaptation Gap Report 2024 – UN Environment Programme; The Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance estimates that by 2030, low-income countries could require up to US$ 400 billion annually for Loss and Damage.
  3. Group Statement – Pacific Small Island Developing States.
  4. Extreme downpours are increasing in southeastern Spain as fossil fuel emissions heat the climate – World Weather Attribution.

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