More than 50 leading civil society organisations have signed a declaration calling for a tax on the fossil fuel industry to pay for the damage caused by natural disasters.
It argues that a lack progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions – of which the fossil fuel industry is responsible for 70% – has created changes in the climate to which vulnerable countries are unable to adapt.
Speaking at the COP23 climate talks in Bonn, Ronny Jumeau, Seychelles ambassador to the UN, said: “A key part of the solution is loss and damage finance – we need new sources of finance to cope with the impacts. A climate damages tax could provide a new source of finance, at scale, and in a fair way.”
A report from the International Monetary Fund earlier this year revealed how low-income countries will bear the economic brunt of global warming – despite contributing very little to CO2 emissions.
The declaration argues that revenue from the tax should be distributed through an appropriate UN body to developing countries to alleviate and avoid severe impacts of climate change.
In addition, it calls for the urgent replacement of fossil fuels, by mid-century at the latest, with renewable sources of energy. This would be assisted by increasing the rate of the climate damages tax over time.
