Key companies to track on the CO2 emissions radar: Maguire

Key companies to track on the CO2 emissions radar: Maguire

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)

LITTLETON, Colo. - Corporations are coming under the glare of climate activists and policymakers after speeches at the ongoing United Nations climate summit in Egypt called on companies to pay a global carbon tax to help small island states adapt to climate change.

"The oil and gas industry continues to earn almost 3 billion United States dollars daily in profits," said Gaston Browne, Antigua's prime minister, at the conference on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States.

"It is about time that these companies are made to pay a global carbon tax on their profits as a source of funding for loss and damage," he said. "While they are profiting, the planet is burning."

The idea of companies coughing up to help finance global efforts to curb emissions and mitigate the impact of increasingly intense floods, droughts wildfires and heat waves is not new.

But the concept of a carbon tax for corporations is likely to gather more support from governments and international bodies as estimates for the funding needed to battle climate change surge with government budgets being drained by soaring inflation and hefty bills from energy transition efforts.

TRACKING THE