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Oxfam reaction to the outcome of the Santa Marta conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels

In response to the outcome of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, Oxfam Climate Policy Lead Mariana Paoli said:

“The fact that more than 50 countries came together to start developing a path to move away from fossil fuels must be celebrated. The People’s Summit demonstrated that there are many ways to implement a just transition, and the crucial role civil society can play in this process.

“However, it is disappointing that wealthy governments have still not stepped up to provide sufficient climate financing for poorer countries, which face the brunt of the impacts of the climate crisis, to make this move. Rich countries hold the historical responsibility for the climate crisis, therefore they must not only move first and faster but also provide finance at scale for others to follow them.

“A just transition must make rich polluters pay for the crisis they have caused. While households around the world struggle with skyrocketing energy prices amidst geopolitical instability, the biggest fossil fuel corporations rake in record-breaking profits, with most of those gains going into the hands of the richest 1 percent. Taxing the super-rich and big polluters to fund a just transition is the obvious viable solution that governments must choose.

“Santa Marta is just the first step of the process to a just transition. Between now and the next conference that will be hosted by Tuvalu and Ireland in 2027, governments must continue to build a momentum for a fair and equitable energy transition.”

Notes to Editors

In the context of the global energy crisis, Oxfam commissioned new polling by market research company Norstat in April 2026, from people in seven countries (UK, France, Brazil, Turkey, Australia, the Netherlands and Colombia). It found that three times as many citizens supported greater government investment in renewable energy compared to increasing fossil fuel extraction, and approximately two thirds (68 percent) supported increasing taxes on the profits of large oil and gas corporations to help fund the transition to renewables. Download the results.

Contact information:

[email protected]

Reactive statement on the publication of the Acute Food Insecurity Analysis on South Sudan

Reacting to the latest Acute Food Insecurity analysis on South Sudan, Oxfam’s Director in South Sudan, Shabnam Baloch, said:

“Oxfam is deeply concerned by the latest findings showing that acute food insecurity in South Sudan is alarmingly high and continues to increase with 7.8 million people- nearly two in every three persons facing extreme hunger. In some areas, conditions have worsened with 73,000 people now facing starvation according to the latest IPC findings.”

“A lethal mix of conflict, collapsing markets and climate shocks combined with devastating aid cuts is pushing more families deeper into severe hunger. Communities are being cut off from help when they need it most and the systems meant to protect the most vulnerable are falling short.

“With the rainy season fast approaching, the situation is set to worsen in the coming weeks. Without urgent, scaled-up action especially—food assistance and clean water—more lives are at risk.

“This is not just a hunger crisis—it is a full-blown humanitarian emergency unfolding in plain sight. Oxfam is calling on the international community to step up support and on all parties to the conflict to end the violence, protect civilians, and allow unimpeded humanitarian access.”

END

NOTES TO EDITORS

  • Between April and July 2026, about 7.8 million people in South Sudan face high levels of acute food insecurity—an increase of roughly 280,000 since September 2025 according to the latest IPC findings.

  • Around 73,000 people are facing starvation, and a high risk of death as livelihoods collapse. As conditions worsen, areas in Luakpiny/Nasir and Ulang in Upper Nile, and Nyirol,Akobo in Jonglei, could face famine under worst-case scenarios.

  • Violence in Jongeli state has worsened the humanitarian crisis, displacing over 300,000 people within the country, while 110,000 others have fled to Ethiopia according to UNHCR. Families are facing extreme hunger (emergency levels) and a growing risk of cholera outbreak due to lack of clean water and sanitation. Women and children fleeing the conflict are enduring days-long journeys, reporting attacks, family separation, abductions and hunger along the way.

  • An estimated 7.55 million people – 53% of the population are projected to face severe food shortages (crisis level and above). Heavy rains expected later this month will further cut off humanitarian access to communities most in need.

  • At the same time, refugees fleeing the war in Sudan — now entering its fourth year — is putting more pressure on an over-stretched response. Since last year, the humanitarian coverage rate in South Sudan is the lowest since the country was created in 2011 and only 22 percent of humanitarian response plan has been funded to date.

  • Oxfam was providing lifesaving food assistance, clean water, and sanitation support to over 400,000 displaced people and host communities in Jonglei State before operations were suspended and is now continuing support in neighbouring towns.

Contact information:

[email protected]

Fossil fuel companies projected to earn almost $3,000 a second in 2026 while families struggle to afford energy bills worldwide

Six of the biggest fossil fuel companies are projected to earn $2,967 a second in profits in 2026, new Oxfam research finds, ahead of the first global conference this week on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia.

This marks an increase of almost $37 million a day compared to the 2025 profits of these six corporations – Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon and TotalEnergies. Their total projected fossil fuel profits of 2026 are $94 billion: enough to provide solar power for the energy needs of almost 50 million people in Africa.

In the context of the global energy crisis, Oxfam commissioned new polling in seven countries. It found that three times as many citizens supported greater government investment in renewable energy compared to increasing fossil fuel extraction, and approximately two thirds (68 percent) supported increasing taxes on the profits of large oil and gas corporations to help fund the transition to renewables.

Currently, families around the world continue to be pushed into energy poverty as geopolitical instability, the impacts of escalating violence in the Middle East that has already taken many lives, and the sharp increase in the wealth of the super-rich in contrast to everyone else is leaving ordinary people struggling to make ends meet.

A huge proportion of the profits from fossil fuels are going straight into the pockets of the wealthiest 1%, based mainly in the Global North, who are profiting from the subsequent climate destruction these corporations cause while working to maintain global dependence on fossil fuels by monopolising wealth and political influence.

“A just transition away from fossil fuels must support people in poorer countries, who face the brunt of climate disasters while their governments are forced to spend more money on repaying debts than on education or health, let alone climate adaptation,” said Mariana Paoli, Climate Policy Lead at Oxfam. “Taxing the richest polluters who have no intention of investing in a clean future is central to a just transition. At Santa Marta, governments must end the pollutocrat era.”

Fossil fuel corporations and the super-rich that profit from them are entrenching inequality and turning their backs on the people most impacted by the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis. Just last month, ExxonMobil announced a significant reduction of a third of its planned investment in low-carbon energy projects and TotalEnergies refused to adopt a net zero transition plan aligned with 1.5 degrees.

At Santa Marta, Oxfam urges governments to:

  • Scale up public climate finance. Introduce measures to tax the corporations and the super-rich profiting from fossil fuels and the cost-of-living crisis, including through a Rich Polluter Profit Tax on fossil fuel corporations and an Excess Profit Tax across all sectors. They must tackle unsustainable sovereign debt through debt cancellation, fair restructuring, and by adopting a UN framework on sovereign debt.

  • Put justice at the heart of the energy transition through principles of responsible divestment. States and fossil fuel corporations must address the environmental damage and livelihood loss they’ve caused and centre the rights and participation of those communities most impacted by extractive industries.

  • Implement an equity-based roadmap to end fossil fuels that reflects the historical responsibility, financial capacity and fossil fuel dependence of different states.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Download our methodology note.

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. Download the results.

Oxfam’s report “Unjust Transition” outlines how the richest 0.1 percent are undermining efforts at a just energy transition through overconsumption of the carbon budget and investing in fossil-intensive industries. If just one year’s energy consumption of the wealthiest 1 percent were redistributed, it could meet the modern energy needs of all the people in the world without electricity seven times over. The cost of the energy needs in different countries is in the report methodology note.

See Oxfam Aotearoa’s report “Closing Time” on why Aotearoa needs a just transition from fossil fuel production.

Contact information:

For more information or to arrange an interview, please reach out to:

[email protected]

South Sudan evacuation order removes humanitarian support for over 200,000 people and deepens catastrophic conditions – Oxfam

The evacuation order for the northern border town of Akobo East in South Sudan, which forced tens of thousands of people – including all aid agency staff – to leave at the weekend, has closed critical humanitarian programmes for over 200,000 people and deepened catastrophic conditions, Oxfam said today.

Evacuated Oxfam staff are reporting that even before the latest escalation, the humanitarian situation was already dire. Communities were under immense pressure, with many families surviving on wild fruits and leaves from the bushes. Akobo East hosts more than 188,000 residents and had been sheltering an additional 82,000 people displaced by conflict from other parts of Jonglei State.

With the evacuation order now forcing many to flee again, thousands of families are facing secondary displacement, leaving them with even fewer resources and support. More than half of those displaced people are women and children. The escalating violence and repeated displacement is increasing the threat of sexual violence and abduction, and also the risk of child marriage.

Shabnam Baloch, Oxfam’s South Sudan Country Director said: “This evacuation order has forced the closure of all humanitarian support, it is outrageous. Living conditions were already extremely bad and now exhausted people, many of whom were already displaced, have been forced to move yet again because of the spiralling conflict.”

On Friday 6 March the order was given by the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces for everyone – including hundreds of UN and aid agency staff – to evacuate within four days. Alfred Chandonga, a local Oxfam Project Manager who himself was forced to flee, described the situation: “I was struck by the crushing sight of families being forced into the wilderness yet again. These were the same people who had arrived from Walgak only weeks ago, weary but hopeful that they could finally set down their heavy bundles and rest. Instead, safety vanished in an instant. There was no time to grieve the lives they left behind.

“Watching them walk into the haze of uncertainty was heartbreaking; I saw women, the true face of this crisis, balancing their entire lives in their hands. With infants on their backs and toddlers clutching their dresses, they moved toward a horizon where neither the next meal nor the safety of the path is guaranteed. They only know they must keep walking. The world cannot afford to look away.”

Most of the displaced population have fled to Tergol, a key border crossing point for South Sudanese refugees while 37,000 people have already crossed into the Gambella region of Ethiopia, on top of around 78,000 people who already arrived there in January according to UNOCHA in South Sudan. This additional population movement is placing even more strain on Gambella which hosts over 450,000 South Sudanese refugees.

Support to new asylum seekers from South Sudan has become increasingly difficult in Ethiopia due to immense pressure and reduced funding cuts as several organizations have had to reduce essential services due to lack of funding. Oxfam, which leads on providing clean water and sanitation services, has been forced to scale down its operations reaching even fewer people at a time when needs are increasing.

Ethiopia is facing its own overlapping crises from conflict to drought with some areas reporting crop losses due to the failure of the last two rainy seasons, leaving households empty-handed.

The South Sudan 2026 humanitarian response plan projects that over 10 million people – two-thirds of the population – will require some humanitarian assistance including 7.5 million people who are at risk of starvation.

Oxfam is calling on all parties in South Sudan to de-escalate the conflict and prioritise the protection of civilians and guarantee safety of humanitarian access to populations in need in Akobo county, including at the border with Ethiopia.

Ends

Note to editor

The audio testimony of Alfred Chandonga, Oxfam’s local Project Manager in Akobo, can be downloaded for media use.

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [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

Africa subject of 80 per cent of UN Security Council resolutions over last decade, despite exclusion from permanent seat – Oxfam

Since 2016, conflicts in Africa have claimed millions of lives, forced nearly 46 million people from their homes – more than four times a decade ago – and pushed 120 million people across 26 African countries into hunger. Yet African representation in critical decisions concerning its security and future is minimal. Oxfam urges African leaders convening for the 39th African Union summit in Addis Ababa to demand for a meaningful reform within the UN Security Council.

Oxfam found that conflicts across Africa have dominated UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions over the last decade, totalling a staggering 80 per cent, despite no African country having a permanent seat on the Council.

Last year alone, nearly 45% of the resolutions adopted by the UNSC -20 out of 44 resolutions- explicitly focused on an African country or situations in Africa. Of these 20 resolutions, 18 authorised sanctions, peacekeeping or military action.

Oxfam’s briefing note “Africa’s rightful seat: from vetoing humanity to a just multilateral order”, highlights Africa’s exclusion from permanent representation at the UN Security Council and calls for urgent multilateral reform.

Fati N’zi-Hassane, Oxfam in Africa Director, said: “Many of the world’s most deadly and protracted conflicts are taking place in Africa, yet the continent continues to be denied a permanent seat at the table, underscoring a long-standing imbalance in global decision-making on peace and security.

“Without the right voices being heard, resolutions are being passed that are not implementable and are out of touch with what people need or want.”

Five countries at the epicentre of prolonged conflict – Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan – account for nearly two-thirds of the continent’s acute food insecurity. In Sudan alone, the ongoing conflict that erupted in April 2023 has claimed more than 150,000 lives, while millions more struggle to survive.

The economic costs are equally stark with the conflict estimated to cost the continent around $18 billion each year, seriously derailing development, disrupting trade and diverting resources away from crucial development priorities across large part of Africa.

Oxfam’s Vetoing Humanity report in 2024 showed that resolutions too often fail to deliver peace or address root causes, leaving ordinary people to shoulder the human and economic toll of crises they had no hand in shaping.

“While conflicts across the continent continue to intensify, decisions driven largely by UNSC members are failing to ease the human cost for millions of people. For far too long, Africa has faced unjust, disproportionate challenges stemming from the current geopolitical landscape and key decisions affecting peace and security must be made with proper African representation. The UN Security Council must evolve to have the right people at the table.” Fati N’zi-Hassane concluded.

As African leaders gather for the 39th AU Summit, Oxfam calls on them to strongly reaffirm the common African position held since the Ezulwini Consensus with Africa remaining at the center of Security Council decisions without being represented, strengthening this political unity is essential to advancing fair multilateral reform.

Ends

Note to editor:

See report: No Representation, No Peace: The African demand for a reformed Security Council

The Ezulwini Consensus is the African Union’s common position on the reform of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council. Adopted in 2005 in Ezulwini, Swaziland (Eswatini), it calls for at least two permanent seats with veto power and five non-permanent seats for Africa in order to correct its under-representation.

 

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]