As European leaders gather in Brussels, groups demand permanent tax on soaring fossil fuel profits

Campaigners staged a stunt outside the European Council calling on leaders to tax fossil fuel companies – photos available here.

Brussels, 17 June 2026 – Climate and financial justice organisations across Europe are calling on leaders to introduce a new, permanent tax on fossil fuel profits as they gather in Brussels this week at the European Council. Campaigners argue that the companies driving the climate crisis should contribute more to addressing its social, economic and climate consequences and are calling for “polluter pays” taxes to be introduced at the national and EU-wide level. They are also calling on leaders to support fossil fuel taxation in the forthcoming UN Tax Convention negotiations, arguing that a global solution is also essential. The call comes as Europe’s biggest oil and gas corporations continue to rake in enormous profits, while households and businesses struggle with the rising cost of living and communities face escalating climate impacts. Six leading European oil and gas companies made combined profits of $22 billion in the first quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly total since 2022.

Isabelle Brachet, Senior Fiscal Reform Policy Coordinator at Climate Action Network Europe, said:

“Protecting people and businesses from soaring energy prices could cost European governments up to €38.6 billion in 2026. That bill should not be paid through cuts to healthcare, education or climate action. Instead, governments should tax the colossal profits of fossil fuel companies. The revenues could fund energy vouchers, social tariffs, affordable public transport, and lower electricity taxes. An EU Regulation would ensure the coordinated introduction of such a tax in all Member States, reducing tax avoidance and sending a clear signal to investors to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.”

Markus Trilling, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), said:

“Revenues generated by a permanent fossil fuel tax could be invested in measures to reduce energy poverty, support public services, accelerate the clean energy transition and provide climate finance for countries facing the worst impacts of a crisis they did little to cause. We need action in Europe but we also need global action. Countries across the Global South are facing mounting climate damages, crippling debt burdens and economic pressures, despite contributing only a fraction of historic greenhouse gas emissions. European leaders have the opportunity to support a mechanism for polluter pays taxes at the global level in the UN Tax Convention at the next round of negotiations in August.”

Nicolas Bormann, Climate Justice Policy Officer at CNCD-11.11.11, said:

“Fossil fuel companies such as TotalEnergies are banking on wars to harvest gigantic profits while benefiting from tax optimisation to an indecent degree. At the same time, we are bearing the costs of heatwaves, floods and major energy bills. This climate injustice must end. Governments have the power to reclaim these gargantuan profits by taxing them at the source, without impacting the consumers. Then these funds must be redistributed towards international solidarity and climate action, to ensure a just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels, both in the North and in the South.”

Kädi Ristkok, Director for Climate & Energy at T&E, said: 

“Energy prices have soared for households and businesses, and oil companies are again profiting at our expense. These obscene profits come at a time when European public attitudes recognise clean energy independence as a major security concern, and new YouGov polling shows overwhelming support for windfall taxes on excess fossil fuel profits. Europe’s leaders should not only tax excess profits, they should ensure that these revenues go towards a fair transition for all Europeans.”

Lorna Gold, Executive Director of Laudato Si’ Movement, said:

“In recent weeks, 160 faith organisations in 20 European countries have called for a permanent tax on fossil fuel profits. We urge EU and national leaders to act now to protect the most vulnerable and accelerate the clean energy transition, rather than siding with fossil fuel corporations making colossal profits while fuelling the climate crisis.”

Fanny Petitbon, Country Manager for France at 350, said: 

“As another heatwave grips Europe, the irony could not be starker: the same companies whose profits depend on burning fossil fuels are forcing us to adapt to a crisis they created. While ordinary families struggle to pay their energy bills just to stay safe through extreme heat, oil and gas giants are posting some of their highest profits in years, deploying armies of lobbyists to block every attempt at fair taxation and threatening higher prices at the pump unless they are allowed to write their own rules. European leaders are gathered in Brussels this week to discuss the energy crisis, yet making the companies driving it pay for it is not even on the table. It is time to stop protecting polluters and start protecting people. A permanent tax on fossil fuel profits is not a radical idea, it is simply fairness.” 

The following organisations support the campaign to tax fossil fuel companies and the stunt that took place ahead of the European Council meeting: Climate Action Network Europe, CNCD-11.11.11, European Environmental Bureau (EEB), the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), European Public Service Union (EPSU), Laudato Si’ Movement, Transport & Environment and 350.org. 

ENDS