The Climate Bill Has Arrived. Big Oil Needs to Pick Up the Tab

A new report from the UN has concluded that world-changing levels of global heating are now guaranteed. If we do end fossil fuels in the coming years, we can still avert potentially civilization-ending levels of heating, but no matter what we do, dangerous global warming is here to stay.

Given that 6,000 people are dead or disappeared following the recent climate disaster in Nepal, this shouldn’t come as a shock. It should, however, be a wake up call. Deadly climate change is here, and in addition to ending fossil fuels as quickly as possible, we’re going to have to spend a ton of money refitting society so that it’s fit for our new climate era.

Stormwater systems, dams, and sea walls will need to be upgraded to withstand more intense flooding. Schools, hospitals, and offices will need to be refitted to withstand punishing heatwaves. Early warning systems giving people a hope of surviving extreme weather events will need to be installed across the world. (Such a system could have saved hundreds of lives in Nepal.)

But building this new world is going to run up a bill of trillions of dollars. In the long run, these investments will pay off massively, both in avoided suffering and economically. But the initial investments need to be made. The question is: who is going to pick up the tab?

This question has vexed global climate talks for years. Low-income nations have done the least to cause global warming. Yet, they’re being hit hardest by punishing climate extremes. In response, Global South leaders have pushed the world’s wealthiest nations to create (the still shamefully underfunded) financing mechanisms, such as the Loss and Damage Fund and the Least Developed Countries Fund, to move money to the world’s poorest countries to support climate adaptation.

Low-income nations have done the least to cause global warming. Yet, they’re being hit hardest by punishing climate extremes.

Much more needs to be done to ensure nations that have benefited the most from fossil fuel-driven development are financially supporting those nations hit hardest by climate change. Indeed, this fact will likely underpin the fight for global justice for much of the remainder of the century.

Within wealthy nations, too, however, the question of who’s going to pay the upfront costs of adapting to a hotter, harsher world is also becoming a burning question.

In New York State, the cost of climate adaptation is projected at $519 billion by 2050. It was this observation that propelled the passage of New York’s Climate Superfund Act in late 2024: the legislation requires fossil fuel corporations to pay $75 billion to New York State over a 25-year period to support projects that would make New York’s public infrastructure more resilient in the face of climate change.

New York’s Climate Superfund Act makes perfect sense. After all, somebody's going to have to pick up that $519 billion tab―and the industry that has done the most to cause the problem should pay its fair share.

Unfortunately, New York’s efforts experienced a recent setback when a federal judge ruled that it cannot enact the legislation. While the case will likely be appealed, it’s a frustrating development.

But a single court ruling in a single court can’t stop a movement. Climate superfund legislation has been introduced in 16 states and one ruling in a single court district does nothing to stop other states from implementing their own Climate Superfund laws.

And across the world, additional efforts to make fossil fuel polluters pay for the climate crisis are proliferating.

In July, Portugal passed a 33% windfall tax on profits earned by oil companies due to the Iran War. A bill to that end has also been introduced in the US Senate, and been championed by French campaigners and leading UK politicians.

Legislation introduced in California, Hawaii, and New York would enable state attorneys general to sue fossil fuel companies for economic losses from climate disasters. In Connecticut, a bill that would place a 5% surcharge on fossil fuel companies' insurance policies, raising millions for climate resilience programs, is expected to advance in 2027.

Across the world... efforts to make fossil fuel polluters pay for the climate crisis are proliferating.

The fossil fuel industry clearly sees these attempts for accountability as a serious threat. Big Oil’s puppets in Congress have introduced legislation that would provide the fossil fuel industry with near total immunity from these kinds of lawsuits and legislation.

This front of the climate fight will enter a new phase next month, as the US Supreme Court hears arguments in the case between the City of Boulder and ExxonMobil. No matter the outcome of the Supreme Court case though, the question of who is going to fork out trillions of dollars for essential climate adaptation is only going to become more salient in the years ahead.

Our job is to make it clear: Fossil fuel corporations should pay for the harm they have caused.