According to the UN Secretary General, the big oil and gas companies show “bizarre greed”.
Antonio Guterres this Wednesday criticized the “excessive” profits of these companies amid the global energy crisis and urged the governments to tax them.
US oil companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron, Britain’s Shell and France’s Total Energies combined posted profits of US$51 billion in the second quarter of this year, nearly double the same period last year.
Guterres recalled that in the last quarter (January-March) the combined earnings of the world’s major energy companies had approached. US$100,000 million,
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taxes and redistribution
“We are seeing exorbitant and outrageous gains in the oil and gas industry at a time when we are all losing money,” he criticized.
He urged governments to “tax these excess profits and use the money to support the most vulnerable in these difficult times.”
And he called on citizens around the world to “send a clear message to the fossil fuel industry and its financiers: that this greed Weird Destroying our only common house, punishing the poorest and most vulnerable.”
Regarding the possible rejection by some sectors of his proposal for new taxes on energy companies, the UN leader said that “nothing is going to be more popular than taxing the exorbitant profits of these companies and distributing money among the most vulnerable families”. “
Guterres is not the first to criticize oil companies, which many around the world accuse these days of taking advantage of the global shortage of fossil fuels. enrich yourself at the expense of consumers,
In June, US President Joe Biden took aim at Exxon and some of its competitors, saying they were making “more money than God” at a time when gasoline prices were never seen in history.
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Gasoline in the US exceeded US$6 per gallon (3,785 liters) at some service stations in early July, reaching more than double the prices a year earlier.
power of advocates
The UK approved a 25% untaxed tax on oil and gas producers in the North Sea in July.
Other countries, such as Italy, have implemented similar measures, while legislators in France have refused to do so.
In the US, a group of Democratic legislators has proposed taxing the country’s main oil companies and redistributing income to citizens, a proposal that, according to analysts, is unlikely to move forward in Congress.
In his speech, the UN Secretary-General highlighted the difficulty of taking such measures because of “a lobbying problem” and assured that “sometimes Advocates are very powerful And they have a lot of influence.
He also warned that high energy prices would have dire consequences due to the high pressure on governments and households around the world.
“No country will be spared”
“Many developing countries, drowning in debt, without access to finance and struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, could be pushed to the limit,” he said.
“We are already seeing warning signs of a wave of economic, social and political upheaval From which no country will be spared.”
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In Panama, a country not accustomed to social strife, rising petrol prices last month was one of the triggers of the biggest street protests in decades.
Guterres took part in the presentation of a report by UN experts on the global impact of the war in Ukraine, particularly focused on energy.
The report assesses that there is a “Great Energy Crisis” with high and volatile fuel prices affecting all countries, especially those that are developing.
The United Nations in the document reaffirmed the need to bet more decisively on renewable energy, in addition to formulating more efficient energy saving plans.
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