Peter Capaldi, Joe Lycett and Daniel Lismore back demand to make polluters pay for climate damages - as global survey finds 81% of people support polluter taxes on fossil fuel companies

AS the UK faces a week of heatwaves and wildfire warnings, actor Peter Capaldi, comedian Joe Lycett and artist Daniel Lismore have backed calls from people on the frontlines of the climate crisis; demanding that governments introduce new polluter taxes on fossil fuel companies to cover the costs of extreme weather recovery.

It comes as a new global survey, from Greenpeace and Oxfam, reveals that nearly eight in 10 people (79%) in the UK and 81 per cent globally believe governments must tax oil, gas and coal corporations for the environmental damages they cause, such as wildfires, flooding and drought.

The study, conducted by Dynata across 13 countries, shows 87 per cent of UK respondents believe that revenues from increasing taxes on fossil fuel companies should be directed towards communities most impacted by extreme weather.

Greenpeace has launched a Polluters Pay Pact, bringing together those on the frontlines of the climate crisis to demand new polluter taxes on fossil fuel companies.

Actor and director Peter Capaldi is among the 120,000 people in the UK to have signed the pact. The Oscar-winner said: “It’s utter madness that world leaders are scratching their heads about how to pay for the devastation of flooding, wildfires, and typhoons, while the oil and gas corporations - who are actually to blame for fuelling all this extreme weather - rake in billions in profits. Governments must get those billions to the communities who need it, and bring in polluter taxes, now.”

Research by Oxfam also shows that a polluter profits tax on 590 oil, gas and coal companies around the world could raise up to US $400 billion in its first year. This is comparable to the estimated annual costs of climate damage in the Global South which is predicted to reach between $290bn to $1,045bn annually by 2030.

The annual emissions of 340 of these corporations (for whom data was available) accounted for over half of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. Their emissions in just one year are enough to cause 2.7 million heat-related deaths over the next century.

Greenpeace’s Polluters Pay Pact sees celebrity ambassadors, first responders, trade unions, mayors, and climate litigants around the world come together to demand that governments make oil, gas and coal corporations – not the people – pay their fair share for the damages they cause, through the introduction of new taxes and fines. The Pact has been backed by signatories from around the globe, including Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and South Africa, the US, as well as the UK.

Daniel Lismore, known for his striking living sculptures, said: “I can’t imagine what it’s like to hear storm sirens, evacuate your home, lose everything, and then financially try to build your life back up. How is it fair for people to shoulder these costs while the oil, gas and coal companies responsible for fuelling the climate crisis make mega profits, year after year? Polluter taxes are the obvious, vital and urgent solution, so I’m backing the Polluter Pays Pact to get that message across to politicians who have the power to make this happen.”

The Pact is also supported by climate activists Mikaela Loach, Venetia La Manna and Tori Tsui, and more than 60 NGOs, including Oxfam International, 350.org, Avaaz, Islamic Relief UK, Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), Indian Hawkers Alliance, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, Jubilee Australia and the Greenpeace network.

This week and next week UK officials will join other government representatives from around the world at UN Climate Meetings in Bonn (SB62), to discuss climate policies, including ways to mobilise at least US $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for Global South countries by 2035. Greenpeace and Oxfam will today [THURS 19] hold a press conference to comment on progress at the conference so far.

Maja Darlington, Greenpeace UK campaigner, said: “After huge weather shocks, people need serious financial support to recover, and to protect themselves for next time. Ordinary people aren’t to blame for causing flash floods, or raging wildfires - we’re seeing these disasters because of emissions from fossil fuel companies that are cashing in while the rest of us struggle. Polluter taxes are the clear solution. And what governments should note is that these taxes are incredibly popular, to the point of being vote-winners.”

Chiara Liguori, Oxfam GB Climate Justice Senior Policy Adviser, said: “Rich polluters are continuing to cash in on climate devastation and their profiteering is destroying the lives of millions of people who have done the least to cause the escalating climate crisis. This survey shows the overwhelming public support – at home and abroad – to hold fossil fuel companies to account for their damages. Governments including the UK must start listening.

“Fairer taxes on polluting industries around the world could help avoid more deaths - providing immediate and significant support to climate-vulnerable countries, and finally incentivise investment in a fast, fair transition to renewables.”

ENDS

Bonn Press Conference, Thursday June 19, 3pm BST / 4pm CET

Greenpeace and Oxfam will host a press conference commenting on the survey findings, and on progress at the UNFCCC meeting. The hosts will be Rebecca Newsom, Global Political Lead for Greenpeace’s Stop Drilling, Start Paying campaign, and Ashfaq Khalfan, Director of Climate Justice,Oxfam America.

Join in person: Nairobi 4, Blue Zone, Bonn, Germany

Register to join online here.

Notes:

[1] The research was conducted by first-party data company Dynata in May-June, 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US, with approximately 1200 respondents in each country and a theoretical margin of error of approximately 2.83%. Together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population. Statistics available here.

Further key findings from the survey include:

• When asked who should be taxed to pay for helping survivors of fossil-fuel driven climate disasters, 74% of the UK public think it should be oil and gas companies.
• 73% felt that the fossil fuel industry and the super-rich had a negative influence on politics in the UK.
• 78% of people in the UK say they would be more willing to support a political candidate who prioritises taxing the super-rich and the fossil fuel industry.

Additional background information available here.

[2] Learn more about the Polluters Pay Pact here.

[3] Additional quotes here from people around the world who are backing the Polluters Pay Pact, including first responders, local administration, youth, union representatives and people bringing climate cases to courts.