As COP29 begins today, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) shines a light on the worsening plight of climate refugees, while the big five oil and gas companies made $105bn in profits in the four financial quarters since COP28. The stark inequalities that create the climate crisis and worsen its impacts must finally be addressed, says EJF.

In 2023, the hottest full year on record, 46.9 million people were displaced internally, with 56% of displacements a result of extreme weather disasters. One of the hotspots for internally displaced people in 2023 was the Horn of Africa, where 2.9 million left their homes as a result of flooding after years of extreme drought, 1.2 million of them in Somalia alone. Thousands of Somali people have fled to Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya over recent years of drought and flood.

The situation has not improved in 2024 since the last climate COP, says EJF. From October 2023-September 2024, the big five companies made a combined $105bn in profits, while planning to further expand their oil and gas development. Meanwhile, 2024 is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded, and it is likely that millions more people have been displaced by ongoing climate disasters.

These include massive fires in Brazil that have devastated the Pantanal wetland and Amazon rainforest, record-breaking hurricanes in the southern United States and Caribbean, and deadly flooding last month in Spain. They have uprooted lives and homes, leaving deep scars on communities and the natural world.

Steve Trent, CEO and founder of EJF said: “Every dollar a fossil fuel executive makes has been stolen from the bank of nature, pushing us into further climate breakdown and leaving even more climate refugees saddled with the fallout. 2023 was a human catastrophe, 2024 has been hotter, and yet oil and gas giants keep raking in the profits. It has been 29 years since the first climate COP, yet in this time, world leaders have failed to take meaningful action to stem the tide of climate breakdown”.

“Fossil fuel executives will never voluntarily cut their emissions. Our leaders’ failure to force them to take action is unforgivable, but it is not irreversible. We know the causes and we have the solutions to the crisis, but world leaders must finally step up. To protect the lives of climate refugees and secure a healthy future for all, an international agreement to protect the rights of climate refugees is sorely needed, along with rapid decarbonisation to prevent more people being forced from their homes”.

ENDS

Notes to editors

EJF works internationally to inform policy and drive systemic, durable reforms to protect our environment and defend human rights. We investigate and expose abuses and support environmental defenders, Indigenous peoples, communities, and independent journalists on the frontlines of environmental injustice. Our campaigns aim to secure peaceful, equitable, and sustainable futures.

Our investigators, researchers, filmmakers, and campaigners work with grassroots partners and environmental defenders across the globe. Our work to secure environmental justice aims to protect our global climate, ocean, forests, wetlands, wildlife and defend the fundamental human right to a secure natural environment, recognising that all other rights are contingent on this.

For more information or to speak to one of our expert staff, please email media@ejfoundation.org.

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October 2023-September 2024 Big Five profits

Chevron = $2.3 billion (Q4) + $5.4 billion (Q1)+ $4.7 billion (Q2) + $4.5 billion (Q3)

ExxonMobil = $7.6 billion (Q4) + $8.2 billion (Q1) + $9.2 billion (Q2) + $8.6 billion (Q3)

Shell = $7.3 billion (Q4) + $7.7 billion (Q1) + $6.3 billion (Q2) + $6 billion (Q3)

TotalEnergies = $5.1 billion (Q4) + $5.1 billion (Q1) + $4.7 billion (Q2) + $4.1 billion (Q3)

BP = $0.4 billion (Q4) + $2.7 billion (Q1) + $2.8 billion (Q2) + $2.3 billion (Q3)