Thirty-eight former world leaders used the platform of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week to call for sweeping new taxes on fossil fuel companies, urging governments to place the burden of funding the global energy transition on those most responsible for climate damages.
Under the auspices of the Club de Madrid, the world’s largest forum of former democratically elected heads of state, the leaders released an open letter dated September 24, 2025, declaring that “The climate crisis is a defining challenge of our time.” The signatories include former Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado, former Finnish Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi, former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, and former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The letter emphasizes that governments face an enormous financing gap, with resources needed to fund the energy transition and repair climate damages estimated at “US$6.5-6.7 trillion per year by 2030.” The former leaders argue that fossil fuel companies that have profited from decades of polluting are best placed to meet this cost, and that fair taxation could protect ordinary people already struggling with the economic fallout of the climate crisis.
“It is time to consider innovative solutions that can simultaneously establish a clear incentive for companies to shift investment to renewable energy as quickly as possible, while mobilising significant funds to address climate damages and advance both equality and equity,” the letter states. “Today, we call on you to consider permanent polluter profit taxes applied to high-emitting industries, designed to ensure contributions come from those with the greatest capacity to pay rather than from ordinary consumers of fossil fuels.”
The letter notes that many governments temporarily implemented windfall taxes during the oil and gas price crisis of 2022. “During the oil and gas price crisis in 2022, many governments implemented windfall taxes. We must consider making such approaches permanent,” it argues. A permanent “polluter profits tax modestly applied to normal returns and significantly higher on windfall gains could, if applied just to oil, coal and gas companies, generate up to $400 billion in its first year.”
The leaders also call for phasing out subsidies that encourage fossil fuel use and redirecting support toward public services and renewable energy. “Governments should also phase out fossil fuel subsidies provided to corporations, and re-direct consumer fossil fuel subsidies towards alternative supports and public services that do not incentivise fossil fuel use. These measures should also be complemented by fair taxation on the wealthiest individuals,” the letter says.
Despite record investment in fossil fuels last year—“The world invested more than $1.1 trillion in fossil fuels last year”—the oil and gas sector committed only “about 2.5% of capital on clean energy technologies, a 25% reduction from 2023 figures,” the leaders wrote.
The former leaders stress that the burden should not fall on ordinary people. “With wealthier countries leading by example, these taxes should place the primary responsibility on those with the greatest capacity, not on middle- and low-income communities,” the letter declares.
Examples already exist at the national level. “In the U.S., the states of Vermont and New York have enacted legislation requiring fossil fuel companies to financially contribute to the costs of adaptation. New York state requires companies to contribute $75 billion over 25 years, of which 35% must benefit disadvantaged communities.”
Globally, governments are beginning to coordinate. “On the international stage, Barbados, France, and Kenya, joined by fourteen other countries, are working to build coalitions of the willing to apply levies—including on luxury aviation and fossil fuels —to mobilise new climate and development finance,” the letter highlights.
Public opinion data included in the letter shows strong backing for these measures. “Public support for such steps is strong: a global survey of 13 countries comprising more than half of the world’s population found that eight in ten people back taxing oil, gas and coal companies to fund climate damages.”
Environmental groups say the call from former leaders reflects rising momentum. Rebecca Newsom, Greenpeace International’s global political lead for its “Stop Drilling Start Paying” campaign, said, “This is a powerful call from former world leaders to make oil and gas corporations pay their fair share for the destruction they have caused.”
Newsom noted that public support adds urgency. She said eight out of ten people worldwide now “support taxing these polluters for climate damages—the backing of former political leaders adds more weight to this urgent demand.”
“Pressure is mounting on today’s politicians to hold those most responsible for the climate crisis to account,” she said. “Taxing fossil fuel profits is not only fair—it is also essential to ease the economic burden of the climate crisis, felt by ordinary people through higher food prices, lost working days, pressure on energy bills and higher home insurance premiums.”
She concluded, “Governments must find the courage to decisively tax oil and gas corporations and redirect those funds towards a just transition away from fossil fuels and a safe future in the face of a climate crisis.”
With the G20 summit in South Africa and the UN Global Tax Convention in Kenya both scheduled for November, the former leaders say the moment for action has arrived. “We urge you to place the question of fair taxation of fossil fuel company profits firmly on national and international agendas, in upcoming G20 discussions in South Africa, at COP30 in Belém, and in negotiations toward a new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation,” their letter reads.
“The world has the tools, the knowledge, and the resources to act. What is needed now is the political courage to ensure that those with the greatest capacity contribute their fair share. This will not only advance climate justice but also strengthen the foundations of a more stable, resilient, and prosperous global economy.”
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