Jude Law, Mark Rylance, and Aisling Bea join call for fossil fuel companies to pay up at COP29

Thursday 21st November 2024: Jude Law, Mark Rylance, Aisling Bea, Peter Capaldi, Michael Shannon, George MacKay and Lily Cole are the latest celebrities to join a growing call for fossil fuel companies to be made to pay up for their role in causing climate breakdown.

As the COP29 climate summit kicked off in Azerbaijan, Global Witness took over cop29.com to launch its 'Payback Time' campaign. On the back of a year of devastating heat and extreme weather events, their message to fossil fuel firms is clear: "they broke it - they should pay to fix it".

The cop29.com website has since been blocked in Azerbaijan, denying the people of Azerbaijan the ability to access the campaign as well as the thousands of officials, negotiators and climate organisations attending the COP29 summit in Baku.

This comes after an explosive undercover investigation by Global Witness showed Elnur Soltanov, CEO of COP29 and Azerbaijan's Deputy Energy Minister, was willing to facilitate talks about new fossil fuel deals at the annual UN climate conference.

The domain name was transferred to Global Witness despite Azerbaijan's COP29 team offering a significant sum for it - its previous owners wanted the URL to be used for a campaign aimed at highlighting the fossil fuel industry's major role in the climate crisis.

Actor Jude Law said:

"Oil, gas and coal are harming our planet, causing a surge in deadly weather events. It's time for fossil fuel firms to answer for their actions."

COP29 is crucial for determining how much wealthier nations should pay poorer countries to help them adapt to climate change. But those backing the Payback Time campaign are demanding that fossil fuel companies should be made to pay up too - in recognition of the vast sums of money Big Oil has made from fuelling climate collapse.

In 2022 alone the oil and gas industry made $USD 4 trillion in pre-tax profits. This is ten times the annual cost of climate damages in developing countries - estimated to be upwards of $400 billion per year. The UNFCCC's Loss and Damage Fund, designed to help poorer nations hit hardest by climate disasters, currently contains less than 0.2% of this $400 billion figure.

The campaign is backed by numerous celebrities, activists and campaign groups. These include Ireland's former president Mary Robinson, directors Adam McKay and Joshua Oppenheimer, Star Wars actress Rosario Dawson, Harry Potter star Bonnie Wright, musicians Brian Eno and Jon Hopkins, and a number of prominent climate activists including Vanessa Nakate, Kumi Naidoo and Luisa Neubauer.

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland said:

"People need money to rebuild and adapt to our increasingly extreme climate. But right now the oil and gas companies fuelling climate collapse are getting away scot-free - making immense profits from products they have known for decades would harm the planet. It's high time we made them pay up."

Actor David Harewood said:

"It's about time fossil fuel companies paid up for their part in the climate crisis, evidence of which we're seeing far more frequently."

Climate activist Kumi Naidoo said:

"Tens of millions of people from countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis are already paying the most brutal price. Fossil fuel companies, the world's biggest emitters, must be the ones to pay up."

Actress Scottie Thompson said:

"It's simple: if you break it, you should fix it - Big Oil must pay for some of the damage it has caused."

Actor Michael Shannon said:

"This is the most important issue facing humanity today. The earth will survive. But we are destroying ourselves. We are destroying our children's future. The evidence is irrefutable and persistent. Please acknowledge this and find space in your heart to do something about it."

Actor George MacKay said:

"I am honoured and proud to be part of this action, and part of the film The End. Hopefully it will spark a new beginning and continuation of truth."

Shannon and MacKay star in The End, a new post-apocalyptic film by director Joshua Oppenheimer that addresses the role of the fossil fuel industry in the climate crisis and the urgent need to hold Big Oil accountable. It premieres in the United States next month. (1)

Oil, gas, and coal account for nearly 90% of carbon dioxide emissions, which are heating up the planet and supercharging extreme weather events. For decades, many fossil fuel companies ignored their own scientists' warnings that they were causing irrevocable damage to the climate. What's more, they funded campaigns of climate denial to keep their profits flowing, and spent billions lobbying governments to delay climate action around the world.

Oil firms love to hype up their green credentials, but in reality they only invest a tiny fraction of their profits into green energy. In 2022, only 1.5% of global investments in renewables came from oil and gas firms.

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