"The question is who will pay for the climate crisis"

How can we afford climate change?

This is one of the most common objections from climate skeptics and those who want to maintain the status quo, perhaps encouraged by the oil industry.

And the question of who should pay for the adaptation of poor countries is the most sensitive issue in the international climate negotiations.

The populist answer is simple: the oil industry.

When the oil price now reaches levels not seen in eight years, the profits skyrocket and reach new heights.

The ten largest have earned SEK 1,500 billion during the first three months of the year according to SVT's compilation. 

This is an equal amount promised in climate aid to developing countries.

The promise of $ 100 billion a year is an eternal source of anger and mistrust that will take more than 12 years to reach when rich countries have refused to open their wallets.

If the oil companies maintain the same profit levels during the rest of the year, then the total profits (not turnover) will be greater than the entire Swedish economy.

The oil on top

Anyone who thought that the climate crisis had stopped pumping is sobering up after a quick look at oil production.

The fact that the share of oil in the global energy supply has decreased over the past 25 years from 40 to 30 percent does not solve the problem.

Production is steadily rising, year after year, with the exception of the pandemic year 2020. This year it is expected to approach peak levels, despite economic slowdown due to war and a flare-up pandemic.

And it makes jingle at the checkout.

And the oil companies continue to invest billions in new oil sources.

The Guardian recently published a compilation showing shocking sums.

Over the next 10 years, the 12 largest companies plan to invest over $ 100 million a day in almost 200 new major projects.

That would lead to another billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The UN Climate Panel and many others note that new investments are locking the world into infrastructure for decades to come and making climate goals impossible to achieve.

Claims for extra profit taxes  

The money comes from ordinary people.

Record-high prices at the gas station provide cash that goes straight into the oil companies' pockets.

Government subsidies also contribute thousands of billions every year.

Some come back as taxes, but a significant part of the profits goes to the shareholders and to buying back own shares. 

Following the jubilant quarterly reports, demands have been raised in the UK for extra profit taxes on BP and Shell, but not primarily for the sake of the climate but for pressured consumers who are hooked under high heating and petrol costs.

These are demands rejected by Prime Minister Boris Johnson who want the companies to use the money for investments in renewables.

Is it reasonable to take profits from the oil companies to pay for climate change?

This is the opinion of the environmental organization Transport and Environment, which sums up the total profits of the five European oil companies since the environmental conference in Rio in 1992 to a huge SEK 10,000 billion.

At the same time, the damage to health, the environment and the climate has cost society 15 times as much according to the study.

And the taxes paid by the companies have only covered 5 percent of those costs.

"Time to pay back," says T&E.

Several studies indicate that the effects of climate change will far exceed the costs of restructuring.

So how can we afford not to rebuild society to fossil-free is a more reasonable question.

Then the question is: who should pay?

If you look at the profits in the oil companies, you see that no money is missing from their accounts.

So "Big Oil" should not pay?