What is the problem?
The climate crisis is here – and the richest are fueling it.
Floods and landslides. Heatwaves and wildfires. Droughts and rising seas. The climate crisis is unfolding before our eyes, devastating lives and livelihoods everywhere.
But not everyone is affected equally.
People facing poverty, women and girls, Indigenous peoples, and people of color are paying the highest price – while the richest people and corporations keep plundering the planet for profit.
Meanwhile, governments continue to hand fossil fuel companies billions in subsidies – money that should be funding solutions, not destruction.
Welcome to the 1% club, where the super-rich are dining out on the planet. Billionaires emit more carbon pollution in just 90 minutes than the average person does in their entire lifetime.
Who’s Responsible?
The crisis isn’t an accident. It’s the result of a system that puts profits over people and the planet.
- Fossil fuel corporations have made a fortune from a crisis they helped create, knowingly driving up emissions while communities everywhere pay the price.
- The richest 1% emit as much carbon as two thirds of the world’s population. And it’s not just about their private jets and mega yachts – their investments in oil, gas and coal are fueling the crisis and driving climate destruction on a global scale.
- Wealthy countries that build their economies on extraction and exploitation still refuse to pay their climate debt to the global South.
- And now the far-right, backed by fossil fuel money, are rolling back environmental protections and silencing activists to protect corporate greed.
What are the solutions?
A fairer, more sustainable future is possible—but only if we make rich polluters pay.
We can raise the trillions needed to tackle the crisis and fund a just transition if governments:
1. Tax the super-rich and fossil fuel giants
Make the richest 1% and the most polluting corporations pay their fair share. Increasing taxes on the income and wealth of the world’s wealthiest people, and on the profits of the most polluting corporations could raise trillions for renewable energy, adaptation, and community-led climate solutions.
2. End fossil fuel handouts and invest in renewables
Governments must stop subsidizing destruction and fund a just energy transition that protects workers and communities.
3. Fund climate justice for frontline communities
Ensure climate finance reaches those most affected—women, Indigenous peoples, and communities on the frontlines—so they can recover, rebuild, and thrive.
Voices for Climate Justice
From the Amazon to Africa, the Pacific to Asia, young climate leaders are demanding justice. Five climate activists from across the world are the leading the campaign to Make Rich Polluters Pay. Discover more about Hilda from Uganda, Marinel from the Philippines, Pavel from Peru, Erica from Brazil and Grace from Tuvalu.
Let's Make Rich Polluters Pay!
This year’s COP30 in Brazil is a turning point. Governments have a chance to show real leadership on climate justice – not with promises, but with action.
They can start by taxing the richest polluters and using that money to fund solutions led by the people on the frontlines of the crisis.
Together, we can build a fairer world where communities can thrive in the face of climate change.