Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, called today for oil and gas companies to contribute to the cost of climate change.

Speaking at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Shekh, Egypt, she said:

“The oil and gas companies, and those that facilitate them, need to be brought into a special convocation between now and COP28 [ in 2023].

“How do companies make $200 billion dollars in profits in the last three months and not expect to contribute at least 10 cents in every dollar of profit to a loss and damage fund. This is what our people expect.”

She called on world populations to “hold us accountable”

“We need to understand why we are not moving any further in achieving climate goals”.

Ms Mottley also said:

“This world looks too much like it did when it was part of an imperialistic empire”.

The global north borrows at interest rates of 1-4%, she said. But in the global south rates were 14%.

“And then we wonder why just energy partnerships are not working”.

DrillOrDrop is an accredited journalist at COP27 reporting remotely on the climate talks