Oxfam logo
The Future is Equal
Oxfam logo in green

Climate Crisis

G7 energy billionaires pocket $300 million a day since start of unlawful US and Israel war against Iran

  • Billionaire wealth has so far surged by nearly $10 trillion amid the fifth global economic crisis since 2020.

  • G7 countries slashed aid to the world’s poorest countries by $48 billion between 2024 and 2025 —a sum G7 billionaires accumulated in just nine days.

  • Oxfam calls on the “G6″ to stop using US intransigence as an excuse for inaction, urging taxes on excessive profits and the super-rich, debt suspension, more aid, and new Special Drawing Rights.

41 G7 energy billionaires have increased their wealth by $23.5 billion since the unlawful US and Israel war against Iran began, reveals new Oxfam analysis published ahead of the G7 summit in Evian, France. This is equivalent to about $1,000 in the time it takes to blink. Billionaires globally have gained $9.8 trillion since 2020.

Soaring energy and food prices are devastating households worldwide, particularly across low- and middle-income countries already battered by years of economic turmoil, debt crises, and climate shocks.

At the same time, six oil majors’ profits are projected to skyrocket by 80 percent ($68 billion) over pre-war forecasts. Their profits are on track to hit $152 billion in 2026, equivalent to $416 million a day. This windfall extends to other industries: three of the world’s top fertilizer corporations are expected to see profits jump by 23 percent ($928 million) compared to pre-war estimates. Overall, combined profits for some of the largest G7-headquartered corporations are expected to exceed pre-war projections by $413 million on average.

“Conflict devastates countries and costs countless lives, yet for some it is extraordinarily profitable,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar. “This is a brutal system that redistributes wealth upwards —from workers to shareholders, from the poorest to the richest, from those with the least power to those who already have far too much of it. While families are skipping meals and governments slash lifesaving aid, we are witnessing a grotesque billionaire bonanza.”

This fifth major global crisis since 2020 is being met with political paralysis and retreat. Unlike the coordinated international action seen in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine —when governments temporarily suspended debt service payments and the International Monetary Fund provided emergency lending—, G7 leaders are doing less than ever to help poorer countries.

Crucially, Oxfam warns that the remaining “G6” leaders —Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK— must stop using the US administration’s destructive actions in the global economy and in fueling conflict as an excuse for their own inaction. The G6 possesses immense, independent financial and diplomatic leverage that they are choosing to withhold.

Between 2024 and 2025, the G7 presided over the largest reduction in official development assistance (ODA) in its history, slashing aid to the world’s poorest countries by $48 billion. This is equivalent to the wealth accumulated by G7 billionaires in just nine days during that same period.

The human cost of the G7’s inaction is catastrophic. Since France last chaired the G7 summit, 44 people have fallen into a humanitarian emergency every single minute. From the preventable Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the ongoing genocide in Gaza —the most extreme and devastating example of G7 inaction, where not a single G7 country has imposed an arms embargo on Israel, let alone cut off arms being used in atrocities— multilateralism is being actively destroyed.

“To secure President Trump’s attendance at this summit, President Macron agreed to ignore discussions on climate breakdown, spiraling inequality, and the need for coordinated responses to overlapping global crises,” said Behar. “Even words like ‘gender’ or ‘climate’ have been expunged from the agenda to appease Washington. Rather than defending collective governance, Macron and his peers are accommodating its destruction. This will have consequences measured in lives.”

“The G6 can’t plead powerlessness,” Behar added. “They can cancel debt. They can tax windfall profits and extreme wealth. They can advocate for a new issuance of Special Drawing Rights. They can provide poorer countries with aid. Refusing to act simply because Washington will not join them is not diplomacy —it is cowardice. And it will only accelerate the G6’s slide into global irrelevance.”

Oxfam is calling on G7 leaders —and the G6 independently if necessary— to immediately implement a four-part response to protect ordinary people from the crisis:

  • Tax the excessive profits of corporations and the super-rich to reduce inequality.

  • Suspend and cancel debt. Replicate the COVID-19 playbook by immediately suspending all bilateral debt payments from low- and middle-income countries and use legislative mechanisms to force private creditors to do the same. Cancel unsustainable debt, which forces governments to make devastating cuts to essential public services.

  • Boost aid. Meet ODA commitments by returning to the 0.7 percent Gross National Income (GNI) target.

  • Unlock global liquidity. Support an immediate new issuance of Special Drawing Rights through the IMF —decoupled from quota shares— to inject much-needed liquidity into struggling economies without adding to their debt burdens. Concurrently, International financial institutions must deploy conditionality-free emergency lending, mirroring the crisis response deployed during the pandemic.

Notes to editors

Download Oxfam’s media brief and methodology note.

Overlapping crises since 2020 are deepening inequality, entrenching poverty and accelerating the concentration of wealth and power.

G7 energy billionaires increased their wealth by $23.5 billion since the war began. This is equivalent to $301 million per day, $3,487 per second or $1,046 every 0.3 seconds (average time it takes to blink).

The UNDP estimates that the unlawful US and Israel war against Iran could push more than 30 million people into poverty worldwide. The FAO Food Price Index —which tracks the international prices of a basket of globally-traded food commodities— rose more than three times faster during the February-April period in 2026 than it did during the corresponding months in 2025.

Billionaire wealth data is based on Oxfam’s analysis of Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaire List as of 18 May 2026.

Corporate profit projections were calculated using 2026 consensus net income estimates —the average forecast of a corporation’s profits based on analyst projections— sourced from S&P Capital IQ. Pre-war estimates from 25 February 2026, were compared against the most current forecasts as of 26 May 2026. The analysis focused on the world’s “Big Six” oil corporations and the three largest publicly listed fertilizer corporations by 2025 revenue. For the broader G7 analysis, researchers evaluated corporations within the S&P 1,200 Index, filtering out non-G7 countries, corporations projected to post net losses, and those without available consensus estimates. This resulted in a final sample size of 691 corporations.

G7 countries account for around three-quarters of all official development assistance (ODA).

Across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Lebanon, and Iran, Israeli military operations have killed over 78,000 people, injured more than 200,000, and displaced millions.

  • Gaza: over 72,000 Palestinians have been killed and 172,000 injured.

  • Lebanon: recent escalations have killed 3,185 people, injured more than 9,600, and forced over 1.2 million from their homes.\

  • Iran: UN agencies estimate that up to 3.2 million people have been displaced, alongside thousands killed and tens of thousands injured.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is hitting a country already stretched to breaking point. Ongoing conflict and years of aid cuts have deepened a humanitarian crisis of staggering scale: one in four people are going hungry. Those same aid cuts left DRC effectively exposed to Ebola, weakening the surveillance systems that should have detected this outbreak weeks earlier.

Contact information:

For more information or to arrange an interview contact: [email protected]

Governments falling 90 percent short of climate adaptation finance needs, Oxfam warns ahead of Bonn climate talks

Governments are falling 90 percent short of adaptation finance targets and leaving people in climate-vulnerable communities drastically under-equipped to cope with the devastating impacts of climate change, Oxfam warns ahead of Bonn climate talks (8-18 June).

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as of 2024, governments mobilized $32 billion in public adaptation finance – around 90 percent short of the $310 billion to $365 billion projected needs for developing countries by 2035. To bridge this gap, rich countries would have to increase their adaptation financing tenfold.

“The New Zealand Government has failed to renew our climate finance commitment that ended in 2025. This is depriving our neighbours in the Pacific of at least $100 million every year,” said Nick Henry, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead.

“While climate impacts on communities in the Pacific are accelerating, our Government is falling behind on our fair share of support for our neighbours.

“Oxfam Aotearoa calls on our Government and all political parties to commit to funding our fair share of climate adaptation needs for our Pacific neighbours.”

The total climate finance of $137 billion reached in 2024 is also just a fraction of what countries need to transition away from fossil fuels.

This shortfall highlights a stark global inequality, that those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis are being hit by the heaviest damage and short-changed from the funding promised to help them deal with it. People living across the Global South, women, girls and Indigenous groups are overwhelmingly bearing the costs of environmental devastation.

Meanwhile, super-rich corporations and individuals — largely based in the Global North — have seen their wealth skyrocket.

The profits of the six biggest fossil fuel corporations are projected to hit $94 billion in 2026, continuing to attract mega-investors. Almost 60 percent of billionaire investments are classified as being in high climate impact sectors, such as mining or oil and gas corporations.

“For too long, governments have coddled a super-rich elite whose huge emissions and dirty investments in polluting industries are throttling climate action. At Bonn, leaders must tackle this unequal concentration of wealth and power. It’s time to make rich polluters pay, and channel that wealth into accessible, participatory climate finance in a way that reaches the communities who need it most,” said Mariana Paoli, Oxfam International’s Climate Lead.

Recent polling commissioned by Oxfam across seven countries found that approximately two-thirds (68 percent) of the public support increasing taxes on the profits of large oil and gas corporations to help fund a fair transition to renewable energy.

Oxfam urges governments to:

  • Slash the emissions of the super-rich and make the richest polluters pay, through taxation on extreme wealth, excess profits taxes on fossil fuel corporations, and a carbon capital levy on investments in polluting sectors.

  • Remove the financial barriers blocking a Just Transition by cancelling debt, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and overhauling a financial architecture systemically skewed against Global South countries.

  • Substantially increase climate finance to support communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. This means fulfilling the $300 billion annual target agreed at COP29, including tripling funding flows specifically for adaptation, and substantially increasing resources to address loss and damage.

ENDS

Notes to editors

According to the OECD, in 2024, wealthy countries mobilized $137 billion in total climate finance to support climate action in low- and middle-income countries. Of this, $102 billion came in the form of public finance, mostly as loans. Public finance for adaptation amounted to $32 billion.

The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2025 calculates that the cost of adaptation finance needed in low- and middle-income countries is $310 billion per year in 2035, when based on modelled costs. When based on extrapolated needs expressed in Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans, this figure rises to $365 billion a year.

Oxfam research finds that six of the biggest fossil fuel companies (Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon and TotalEnergies) are projected to earn $2,967 a second in profits in 2026. Download the methodology note.

Download “Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster”, the executive summary and the methodology note. The report is also available in Spanish, French and Portuguese.

The global poll, conducted by market research company Norstat in April 2026, gathered responses from people in seven countries (UK, France, Brazil, Turkey, Australia, the Netherlands and Colombia). The polling also showed that support for taxing oil and gas corporations to fund the renewable energy transition crossed party lines. In six of the countries, there were more far-right respondents who supported such a tax, than those who opposed it.

Contact information:

For more information or to arrange an interview contact: [email protected]

Oxfam Aotearoa reaction to the New Zealand Government’s release of Budget 2026

“This budget fails to deliver on New Zealand’s promises to stand by our neighbours in the Pacific who are struggling with the impacts of climate change.” said Nick Henry, Advocacy and Policy Lead for Oxfam Aotearoa.

“After cutting $100m a year from international climate action last year, the Government now promising $33m from June 2027 is too little, too late.

“Last year’s budget left a hole in funding for our neighbours in the Pacific. A promise to fill a third of that hole in a year’s time will not be much consolation to communities who are suffering now from the escalating impact of the climate crisis.”

 

Contact information:

[email protected]

Somalia IPC Reaction

Reacting to the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published today for Somalia which shows that over 6 million people are experiencing hunger (IPC Phase 3 or above), including nearly 1.9 million in emergency levels (IPC Phase 4), Oxfam’s Somalia Humanitarian lead, Sameer Kariya said:

“Somalia is once again sliding dangerously close to catastrophe. More than 6 million people – nearly one in every three people is struggling to find food.

“Three poor rainy seasons have pushed communities in the country at risk of famine particularly in Burhakaba district of Bay region where worsening acute malnutrition and the projected failure of the Gu rains (April-June rainy season) threaten to deepen the crisis.

“Water sources have dried up while crops and livestock continue to be wiped out and families are forced to abandon their homes in search of water and pasture. For communities and particularly women, it’s no longer about rebuilding but surviving to find at least one meal a day to keep their children alive.”

“The conflict in the Middle East is further driving up the cost of living with food prices rising by 30% and fuel costs increasing by 50% putting basic necessities out of reach for millions of people. Disruption to supply routes are also making it significantly harder and more expensive to deliver lifesaving aid to those most in need, with no foreseeable end to the blockage, Oxfam fears prices of the basic commodities will continue to exacerbate further.

“Somalia has also suffered heavy funding cuts which continue to undermine its response and are forcing aid agencies to make the impossible choices as to who gets support and who doesn’t.

“The world must not wait for famine to be declared before acting — by then, countless lives will have been lost. Urgent support must be delivered immediately.”

Note to editors:

  • Poor rains and rising costs drive urgent food and nutrition needs with risk of famine in one area according to the latest IPC findings

  • The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan estimates that 4.8 million people require humanitarian assistance, with 2.4 million targeted under the response. Funding levels remain critically low, limiting response capacity at a time of increasing needs

Contact information:

[email protected]

Millions of people across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia facing drought crisis, as cost of water increases by 2000% in worst hit areas – Oxfam

  • Failed October–December rains have pushed nearly 26 million people into extreme hunger in East Africa.

  • 58 million people do not have access to clean drinking water.

  • Millions of livestock are at risk as drought devastates grazing lands and water sources, threatening pastoralist livelihoods.

Failure of the last rainy season across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia is triggering a food and water emergency for millions of people still trying to recover from the longest and most severe recorded drought spanning from 2020 to 2023 during which five rainy seasons in a row failed. Dry wells, soaring water prices, crop losses and livestock deaths are pushing communities to the brink, warns Oxfam.

Across the three countries, nearly 26 million people are facing extreme hunger as drought conditions worsen, decimating crops before harvest and leaving livestock to die from lack of water and pasture. Deepening water scarcity is also driving displacement with more than 58 million people lacking access to clean water. As rivers and shallow wells dry up, families – most often women and girls – are forced to walk up to 15 kilometers for a single 20‑liter jerrycan while soaring prices put water trucking beyond reach for many families.

In parts of Somalia, Oxfam staff and partners report that the cost of water has increased by more than 2000 percent. Families are now paying between $1 and $1.50 for a single jerrycan of water, compared to $0.06 a year ago. For families who have already lost their crops, livestock and sources of income, water is now unaffordable. In Hobyo town, north of the country’s capital, communities are relying on water trucked from Gawaan village, located 30 kilometers away. High transportation costs are driving up prices even further.

Fati N’Zi-Hassane, Oxfam in Africa Director, said: “Water trucking is becoming the last line of defence, but for many families who can’t afford even one meal a day for their children, paying for water is simply impossible. For women and girls, the crisis is particularly severe as they now have to walk longer distances, often in unsafe conditions, to secure what should be a basic human right.”

In Somalia, a new Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) alert revealed that the number of people facing hunger has nearly doubled since early 2025, rising to 6.5 million people. One in three people in the country are expected to be in crisis level hunger between February and March 2026. Levels of acute malnutrition have more than doubled, with communities struggling to survive as the climate crisis deepens.

In Kenya’s arid and semi‑arid areas, communities are reporting reduced harvests while in Ethiopia, some areas are reporting crop losses due to the failure of the last two rainy seasons, leaving households empty‑handed. FEWSNET estimated that some regions had suffered production losses of 34 to 54 percent due to a severe rainfall deficit.

Livestock, the backbone of pastoralist communities, are dying in large numbers as water and grazing lands completely dry up. In Somalia alone, an estimated 1.4 million livestock died in 2025, with another 2.5 million at risk. In Kenya’s northern counties, animal deaths from starvation and disease are rising while milk production has dropped by more than half, stripping families of their main source of food and income while in Ethiopia, poor rains have weakened livestock.

The deepening crisis is unfolding amid severe humanitarian funding gaps. While needs have surged across East Africa, funding has declined sharply leaving millions of families to fend for themselves. In 2021, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia required $2.65 billion in humanitarian aid, with just under 61 percent funded. In 2025, less than one‑third of overall humanitarian requirements were met. In Somalia, the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan received only 29 percent of the required funding while the 2026 has secured barely 13.4 percent so far.

“The upcoming dry season will not just be difficult – it could be the final blow pushing communities beyond the point of recovery. Urgent funding is needed now to save lives across the region. Communities here have contributed almost nothing to global climate crisis, yet they are paying the highest price. Families are fighting every day to survive its consequences. We can’t fail them,” said N’Zi‑Hassane.

Across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, Oxfam is working with local partners to deliver life‑saving water, hygiene kits, cash assistance and protection support in hard‑to‑reach and most severely affected communities.

END/

Notes to editors

According to the WHO/UNICEF JMP 2025 report, access to drinking water varies significantly across the Horn of Africa.

  • Somalia: 22 percent (4.2 million people) rely on unsafe water.

  • Kenya: 8 percent (4.5 million) rely on unimproved water.

  • Ethiopia: 37 percent of the population rely on unimproved water.

The total figure of people requiring food assistance by mid‑2026 in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia is between 24.5 to 25.9 million people. Calculations from data below:

  • According to the IPC, a staggering 6.5 million people in Somalia are estimated to be facing high levels of acute food insecurity—nearly double the number recorded in August 2025.

  • FEWS NET estimates 3.0 to 3.49 million people in Kenya will require humanitarian food assistance between October 2025 and May 2026, driven by poor short rains.

  • FEWS NET: food insecurity in Ethiopia remains severe, with up to 15–15.9 million people expected to need urgent food assistance by July 2026 amid Crisis and Emergency conditions, driven in part by significant drought‑related production losses of 54% in East Hararghe and 34% in West Hararghe due to rainfall deficits.

  • The loss of 1.4 million livestock in Somalia was reported by WFP and the estimate of the 2.5 million being at risk is from OCHA.

In 2021, Kenya’s drought flash appeal received $29.5 million of the $69.7 million required (42 percent), Somalia’s Humanitarian Coordinated Plan received $862.3 million of the $1.092 billion required (79 percent) and Ethiopia’s Humanitarian Coordinated Plan received $719.1 million of the $1.488 billion required (48.3 percent).

Somalia Humanitarian Coordinated Plans Funding for 2025 saw $412 million of the required $1.42 billion (29 percent) and for 2026 to date $119.2 million has been raised of the $825 million required (13.4 percent).

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz | Head of Communication, Media & Advocacy, Oxfam Aotearoa

Email: [email protected], Mobile: +64 (0)27 959 5555

Simon Watts Was Right About Pacific Climate Support at COP30. Now We Must Deliver.

At COP30 in Brazil, New Zealand has joined other higher-income countries in reaffirming their pledge to triple climate funding for lower-income countries by 2035. Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to make good on that promise to our Pacific neighbours.

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts told COP30: ‘In the Pacific, climate change is not a distant threat; it is a lived reality.’ Minister Watts went on to praise New Zealand’s international climate finance programme, saying: ‘we provide high-quality, grants-based, accessible, partner-responsive climate support, with over half going to adaptation action.’

But with funding for New Zealand’s international climate programme running out in December 2025, Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to explain how this promise will be delivered.

“Minister Watts is right, New Zealand provides high-quality funding for Pacific communities to adapt to the lived reality of climate change. Let’s keep up the good work.” said Nick Henry, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead.

“Oxfam Aotearoa is glad to hear Minister Watts reaffirm New Zealand’s promise to stand with the Pacific by funding essential climate adaptation projects. With only a month to go until the current programme runs out, we look forward to a further announcement on how this promise will be funded.”

Notes for editors:

Oxfam Aotearoa’s recent report Pacific Resilience: How funding for climate action strengthens our region shows the positive difference that climate funding from New Zealand has made since this support was increased from 2022.

Contact information:

For more information contact:

Rachel Schaevitz, Head of Communication, Media, & Advocacy: [email protected]