A number of small nations attending the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, are calling for an international carbon tax on fossil fuel corporations to pay for damage to their economies in the form of droughts, floods and population displacement. Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, led the call:
"Speaking on behalf of his and other small island nations, Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, targeted fossil fuel companies that make $3 billion a day in profits and demanded that some of that money be used as reparations for poor vulnerable nations hit by floods, droughts, storms and other climate disasters.
'While they are profiting the planet is burning,' Browne said.
'It is about time that these companies are made to pay a global carbon tax on their profits,” Browne said. “Profligate producers of fossil fuels have benefited from extortionate profits at the expense of human civilization.” [snip]
And if the small islands can’t get a global tax on fossil fuel profits, Browne suggested going to international courts to get polluters to pay for what they’ve done. A group of scientists from Dartmouth College calculated specific damages for all the world’s countries and how much was caused by other nations, saying it would work well in international court cases.
Browne also quoted William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ in sharing his frustration with lack of action.
'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time. And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death,' Browne said." (our emphasis)
With the economies of China and India, not to mention those of the U.S. and the West, heavily reliant on fossil fuels, Browne's proposal may work in international court, but the international fossil fuel industry has deep pockets and politicians in them to fight their battle for profits. But with many nations feeling the brunt of global warming caused by greenhouse gases, the fight is worth it, and industrialized nations should stand with them and against profiteering.
(image: Shutterstock)
