UN Secretary-General António Guterres has accused energy companies of making "excessive" profits from the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
That was "immoral," he told the press at the UN headquarters on Wednesday.
Oil and gas companies enriched themselves in the crisis "at the expense of the poorest people and communities and massively at the expense of the climate," added the UN Secretary-General.
Guterres spoke on the occasion of the presentation of a UN report on the consequences of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
"I call on all governments to tax these excessive profits and use the proceeds to support the most vulnerable people through these trying times." The fossil fuel sector and its supporters needed a "clear message" that their "greed" punish the poorest and destroy the planet.
Guterres put the combined profits of the largest energy companies in the first quarter of the year at 100 billion dollars (a good 98 billion euros).
Companies such as BP, Exxonmobil, Chevron and Shell recently reported significant profits for the second quarter.
In view of these profits, which would probably have been significantly lower in non-crisis times, a so-called excess profit tax is discussed again and again.
In Germany, the federal government is divided on this, other European countries are planning such taxes.