Quakers in media stunt for Make Polluters Pay Action Day
Climate and faith organisations including Quakers in Britain protested outside Parliament on Tuesday, calling on the government to tax oil and gas giants.
An actor portraying Rishi Sunak stood on top of a giant oil barrel surrounded by oil drums calling for fossil fuel companies to pay more tax.
Companies like BP and Shell should be taxed more to raise critical funds for communities devastated by climate change, the Make Polluters Pay coalition, which includes Quakers in Britain, believes.
The tax could also help incentivise a fair switch to clean, renewable energy in the UK.
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Polluting fossil fuel companies must pay up for the damage they have caused
- Oliver Robertson
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This year's Make Polluters Pay Action Day falls on 23 September and will see actions across the UK, including pilgrimages, demonstrations and discussions.
While the biggest polluting companies rake in huge profits, communities facing poverty around the world are being hardest hit by the impacts of climate change.
Earlier this year, more than half a million people were displaced in Malawi after their homes were damaged by Cyclone Freddy.
As disasters continue, the fossil fuel corporations responsible make vast profits: in 2022 the combined total profits of BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total Energies were more than £125 billion.
While governments agreed to create an international Loss and Damage Fund, the fund currently remains empty.
Oliver Robertson, head of witness and worship at Quakers in Britain, said: “Quakers believe all human lives are of equal worth, and we seek to live according to that belief.
“As the poorest communities in the world bear the brunt of a climate crisis caused by wealthy polluters, we are called to act alongside those who are suffering.
"Polluting fossil fuel companies must pay up for the damage they have caused. We urgently need to fill the international loss and damage fund to compensate communities and allow them to rebuild."