350.org, a climate campaign group, has accused oil majors, including Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and TotalEnergies, of profiting from market disruption as El Niño threatens millions of lives.

The group, in a statement on Wednesday, called for permanent fossil fuel producer levies and windfall taxes as while governments spend public money protecting households from soaring fuel costs.

Citing its new briefing, the climate group showed how the world’s five major oil and gas companies were expected to report around $53 billion in combined third-quarter profits, more than double their earnings in the same period last year.

“The windfall comes as a new projection from the University of Chicago’s Climate Impact Lab estimates that El Niño could contribute to 451,000 additional heat-related deaths between June 2026 and February 2027,” it stated.

According to the group, governments are spending billions in public money to cushion households from rising fuel prices, while fossil fuel companies continue to reward shareholders, benefit from market volatility and plan further investment in oil and gas.

350.org global campaign officer, Clemence Dubois, stated, “Five oil and gas giants are expected to make $53 billion in a single quarter, while governments scramble to protect people from fuel price shocks and communities face increasingly deadly heat.”

Alleging double standard at the heart of the fossil fuel economy, Ms Dubois accused the companies of profiting from disruption, resist taxes on their exceptional earnings and continue planning fossil fuel expansion. 

She added, “They want the profits from our dependence and none of the responsibility for its costs. Governments then ask taxpayers to pick up the bill for the very needed household support, public services and climate recovery.

“These companies knew what burning fossil fuels would do. They kept expanding and now they want us to pay for the damage while they drill for more. While paying a tax cannot buy permission to keep expanding fossil fuels, governments must make polluters pay through permanent producer levies and taxes on excessive profits, and use that money to protect people and finance a fair transition away from fossil fuels.”

The group explained that the briefing exposed how public money cushions the crisis while fossil fuel companies continued to profit. 

“From France and Canada to Brazil, Japan and Kenya, governments are spending billions to protect households from rising fuel prices, while oil and gas companies benefit from market disruption and stronger refining margins,” it added.

The group demanded accountability for an industry that had repeatedly sought to undermine climate action, deny or deflect responsibility for its role in the crisis, and resist paying for the damage.

“Companies that have profited from fossil fuels for decades must contribute their fair share to protecting people, repairing climate harm and funding a just transition rather than leaving taxpayers to pick up the bill,” the climate change group added.

El Niño is a natural climate pattern characterised by strange warming of surface waters in the Central and Eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, raising ocean temperatures and increasing risks of severe droughts, floods, storms and food insecurity worldwide.