BP and Shell’s combined 2024 profits have soared to an astonishing £26.2 billion, more than double the UK’s so-called commitment to international climate finance, which limps in at a mere £11.6 billion spread across four years. This stark contrast, highlighted by new analysis from NGO Global Justice Now, lays bare the absurdity of a system that allows fossil fuel corporations to rake in billions while governments make weak, inadequate climate pledges.
According to Izzie McIntosh, climate campaign manager at Global Justice Now, the numbers tell a grotesque story: “When two fossil fuel companies together can earn over £26 billion in one year alone, we really have gone through the looking glass.” Meanwhile, the true suffering in 2024 has been felt by those drowning under the weight of soaring energy bills or watching their homes go up in flames—quite literally—thanks to the ever-worsening climate crisis fueled by the fossil fuel industry.
McIntosh argues that if the UK government truly wanted to restore any credibility, it should be taxing these polluters into oblivion and redirecting the cash towards genuine climate solutions. Instead, developing nations continue to call out the UK and other wealthy nations for failing to deliver anything close to the required climate finance. The much-trumpeted $300 billion annual pledge for climate finance by 2035 is an insult compared to the staggering $1.3 trillion a year that experts say is actually needed.
Meanwhile, rich countries continue their favorite pastime—creative accounting. According to an analysis by Oxfam, they are overstating the real value of their climate finance commitments by up to $88 billion, thanks to a sneaky trick where 70% of this so-called finance is handed out as loans, rather than actual grants. As if forcing the Global South into further debt counts as climate justice.
The UK government, ever the master of financial illusions, has also been accused of “double counting” its climate finance contributions by conveniently redefining what qualifies under its targets. So while BP and Shell gleefully count their billions, those most affected by climate breakdown are left counting their losses.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
