It's payback time

This summer was the hottest on record – just like last summer. It’s only getting hotter. As temperatures rise, wildfires, droughts and storms are killing thousands and making life harder for everyone. Climate change isn’t just a future threat – it’s already driving up the cost of food, energy and insurance, and the worst is yet to come.

Who’s to blame?

More than anyone, it’s the fossil fuel industry. Oil, gas and coal account for nearly 90% of carbon dioxide emissions, which are cooking the planet and supercharging extreme weather events.

Big Oil has also spent billions blocking the climate action we need, while raking in obscene profits, knowing full well the damage their products are causing. In 2022 alone, the oil and gas industry made $4 trillion in pre-tax profits.

For decades, many fossil fuel companies ignored their own scientists and funded campaigns of climate denial to keep their profits flowing, and now entire countries face being wiped off the map. Oil firms love to hype their green credentials, but in reality they only invest a tiny amount in green energy.

It’s time to make polluters pay

Fossil fuel companies are some of the richest in the world. They can afford to pay for some of the damage they’ve done. And COP29 is our chance to make that happen and phase out fossil fuels for good.

Why COP29.com?

A big win in recent climate talks was the creation of the loss and damage fund, designed to help the most vulnerable developing nations recover from climate disasters. But here’s the catch: rich countries have only pledged $702 million – less than 0.2% of the annual cost of climate damages in developing countries.

Negotiators at COP29 will be debating a new climate finance goal, which must include a new target for the loss and damage fund - and it needs to be in the trillions. Fossil fuel companies – the ones fuelling climate chaos – should be the ones to pay.

That’s why we’ve taken over COP29.com – to give millions a voice.

Together, we demand that governments force Big Oil to pay, to help communities rebuild and protect themselves against an increasingly wild climate.

It’s payback time: they broke it, they should pay for it.

Supporters

• Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland
• Adam Mckay, director
• Rosario Dawson, actress
• Bonnie Wright, actress
• Brain Eno, musician
• Aisling Bea, comedian
• David Harewood, actor
• Jon Hopkins, musician
• Lily Cole, model
• Greenpeace
• Vanessa Nakate, climate activist
• Kumi Naidoo, climate activist
• Luisa Neubauer, climate activist
• Mikaela Loach, author and activist
• Scottie Thompson, actress
• Disha Ravi, climate activist
• Luana Kaingang, Indigenous activist
• Mitzi Jonelle Tan, climate activist
• Clover Hogan, climate activist
• Elizabeth Wathuti, climate activist
• Joycelyn Longdon, climate activist
• Oxfam
• 350.org
• Yellow Dot Studios
• Josh Fox, filmmaker
• Oli Frost, comedian
• Jolyon Rubinstein, comedian
• Bea Millan-Windorski, Miss Earth USA
• Michael Mezzatesta, influencer
• Lauren MacDonald, climate activist
• Tori Tsui, climate activist and writer
• Sophia Li, journalist and climate advocate
• Farhana Yamin, climate lawyer and author
• Steven Donziger, lawyer
• Lena Schilling, member of the European parliament
• Sebastian Everding, member of the European parliament
• Jeremy Corbyn, UK member of parliament
• Baroness Ruth Lister of Burtersett
• Cat Eccles, UK member of parliament
• John McDonnell, UK member of parliament
• Richard Burgon, UK member of parliament
• Ellie Chowns, UK member of parliament
• Ian Byrne, UK member of parliament
• Chris Law, UK member of parliament
• Mike Hedges, Welsh member of parliament
• Llyr Gruffydd, Welsh member of parliament
• Kirsty Lang, journalist
• Kristy Drutman, BrownGirlGreen
• Isaias Hernandez, QueerBrownVegan
• Harjeet Singh, director at the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative
• Make Polluters Pay
• Oil Change International
• SHE Changes Climate
• Friends of the Earth England, Wales & Northern Ireland
• Fridays for Future India
• Earthrise Studios
• Climate Action Network Europe
• The Climate Reality Project
• Mark Seddon, director at the Centre for UN Studies
• Jeremy Wooding, director
• Nick Grono, non-profit leader and author
• Priscila Tapajowara, Indigenous activist
• Imagine5
• Rainforest UK
• Planetari
• Urgewald
• World's Youth for Climate Justice
• Project Dandelion
• The Climate Reality Project Europe
• Make My Money Matter
• Mídia Indígena, Brazilian Indigenous storytelling network
• Mullu, Ecuadorian grassroots storytelling platform
• Alice Aedy, Co-Founder at Earthrise Studio
• Jack Harries, Co-Founder at Earthrise Studio
• Amazon Watch
• Youth4Nature
• Climate Rights International
• Campaign against Climate Change
• Environmental Justice Foundation
• Stop Cambo and Stop Rosebank
• Quercus Associação Nacional de Conservação da Natureza
• Faith For The Climate
• Atmos
• Uplift
• CliMates
• Global Justice Now
• Creatives for Climate
• Youth and Environment Europe
• Natural Justice
• AdFree Cities
• Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
• Colombe Cahen-Salvador, Co-Founder of Atlas Movement
• Climate Clock
• Fossil Free London
• Equal Right
• Stamp Out Poverty
• Fuel Poverty Action
• New Society
• Resilient 40
• Journalists for Human Rights North
• Reclame Fossielvrij!
• Biodiversity Hub International
• Clean Air Action Group
• A Sud Ecologia e Cooperazione
• Horn Youth Leaders Forum
• Students Organising for Sustainability UK
• Extinction Rebellion Global Support
• EKOenergy ecolabel
• Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development
• Climate Science Breakthrough
• Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment & Management
• Courage Nsirimovu, Pilex Centre For Civic Education Initiative
• UK Youth Climate Coalition
• Recourse
• Electra Energy Cooperative
• Gallifrey Foundation
• Operation Noah
• Extinction Rebellion Belgium
• Jessica Besch, Climate Reality Europe
• Eve Karoubi, climate leader
• Sarah Daly, sustainability strategist
• Davis Reuben Sekamwa, co-founder of Tard Foundation
• Erica Bergsmeds, photographer and director
• Dr. Erin Lothes, Laudato Si Movement
• Rev. John T. Pawlikowski, OSM
• Rev. Josho Pat Phelan, Chapel Hill Zen Center NC
• Madiha Waris, Rights and Resources
• Carl Bärstad, Climate Reality
• Svetlana Chigozie Onye-Sanya, writer
• Léo Ruesche Neggia, environmental justice activist
• Mohammed Usrof, executive director at Palestinian Institute for Climate Strategy
• Ahmed Yousuf Abdi, climate activist
• Ruben Campos, director at Club de Madrid
• Mary Finley-Brook, PHD
• Qiyun Woo, The Weird and Wild

Special thanks

Global Witness were able to acquire the cop29.com site thanks to the principled actions of its previous owners – an Indian couple who used the domain for their family business.

Although they were offered a significant sum by Azerbaijan’s COP29 team for the site, these small business owners were worried about climate breakdown and so decided to let Global Witness have the site instead.