The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has decried climate crisis, insisting that polluters must be held accountable.

Mr Guterres, who addressed world leaders during the UN General Assembly in New York, reaffirmed the importance of keeping the 1.5°C goal alive.

“Those who polluted the most – and profited the most – must do far more to repair the damage they caused. Polluters must pay. And to the leaders, cities, civil society and citizens working to hold them accountable: you are on the right side of history. Keep going,” said the UN chief.

Mr Guterres’ call came amid sustained campaign by climate justice advocates demanding fossil-fuel companies to pay more taxes for the climate damage they had caused. 

The campaigners, who earlier got two million signatures for petition at the assembly, noted that those responsible for climate crisis must be held to account.

The development came amid recurring incidents of devastating wildfires, floods and deadly climate disasters, and continuing global energy insecurity linked to dependence on oil and gas. 

Campaigners insisted that as fossil-fuel companies keep raking in colossal profits, ordinary people are left paying the price through higher energy and food bills, and losses that can never be fully repaired, including homes, harvest and lives.

Commenting on Mr Guterres’ call, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, Mads Christensen, said, “Guterres has spent years warning leaders where fossil-fuel dependence leads, and this year proved him right. From deadly heat to devastating fires and floods, the very dependence driving these disasters is shaking entire economies and leaving families exposed to volatile energy and food prices, while the companies behind it keep raking in the profits. The worse the crisis grows, the more they make: the very instability that empties people’s wallets fills theirs.

“That is the system permanent surtaxes on fossil-fuel profits start to break. New rules forcing governments to align their taxes and spending with global climate goals would raise hundreds of billions of dollars to support the countries and communities least responsible, while incentivising money out of fossil fuels and into secure, renewable energy that actually protects people. As long as destruction stays profitable, the transition to a safer, fairer future will keep being held back. Guterres has named the solution, governments must now act on it.”

The Executive Director of Oxfam International, Amitabh Behar, also stated the people who contributed least to the climate crisis were paying the highest price, noting they were losing homes, livelihoods and access to food and facing an increasingly uncertain future, while fossil-fuel corporations and their billionaire backers continued to profit. 

“The call to Make Rich Polluters Pay is about justice. It is about ensuring that those who have benefited most from the fossil-fuel economy pay for the damage it has caused.

“Today the Secretary-General joined millions of people around the world in demanding that ‘polluters must pay.’ It’s time for governments to listen and ensure that new sources of finance reach the communities on the frontlines of this crisis,” Mr Behar noted.

Climate campaigners called on governments to direct climate revenues to communities, including funding adaptation, recovery and loss and damage, urging acceleration of the transition away from fossil fuels towards clean, affordable and secure energy.