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BP scales back climate goals as profits more than double to £23bn

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/07/bp-profits-windfall-tax-gas-prices-ukraine-war

Just Stop Oil protests at BP
Just Stop Oil protests at BP

BP has scaled back its climate ambitions as it announced that annual profits more than doubled to $28bn (£23bn) in 2022 after a sharp increase in gas prices linked to the Ukraine war boosted its earnings.

In a move that will anger campaigners, the oil and gas giant cut its emissions pledge and plans a greater production of oil and gas over the next seven years compared with previous targets.

The huge annual profit led to renewed calls for a toughened windfall tax, as oil companies reap rewards from higher gas prices while many households and businesses struggle to cope with a sharp rise in energy bills.

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Kate Blagojevic, Greenpeace UK’s head of climate justice, said: “BP is yet another fossil fuel giant mining gold out of the vast suffering caused by the climate and energy crisis.

“What’s worse, their green plans seem to have been strongly undermined by pressure from investors and governments to make even more dirty money out of oil and gas. This is precisely why we need governments to intervene to change the rules.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/07/bp-profits-windfall-tax-gas-prices-ukraine-war

Continue ReadingBP scales back climate goals as profits more than double to £23bn

How much tax do oil companies usually pay?

Image of loads of money
Image of loads of money

Part of a wider article by BBC discussing the UK’s Windfall tax on big oil and gas companies.

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Shell initially said it did not expect to pay any windfall tax for 2022, as its North Sea investments meant was not considered to have made any UK profits.

But on 2 February it announced that it would pay $134m (£108m) for 2022, and expected to pay more than $500m (£400m) for 2023.

BP said it would pay $700m (£583m) in windfall tax for 2022.

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BP and Shell both received more money back from the UK government than they paid every year from 2015 to 2020 (except 2017, when Shell paid more than it received).

Shell also paid a negative amount of tax in 2021, taking its 2015 to 2021 total to -£685m of tax in the UK.

BP paid more money in tax than it received back in 2021, taking its total between 2015 and 2021 to -£107m.

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Continue ReadingHow much tax do oil companies usually pay?

Death toll from the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has soared above 5,000

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/death-toll-devastating-earthquake-hit-turkey-and-syria-has-soared-above-5000

Rescue workers and medics carry a woman out of the debris of a collapsed building in Elbistan, Kahramanmaras, in southern Turkey, Tuesday, February 7, 2023

THE death toll from Monday’s devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria has soared above 5,000, with some experts predicting that the tally could reach as high as 20,000.

Thousands of people have been injured by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake but many more have yet to be accounted for.

Search teams and emergency aid from 30 countries poured into the affected areas on Tuesday as rescuers dug through the remains of buildings flattened by the earthquake and the reported staggering 145 aftershocks.

But with the damage spread over a wide area, the massive relief operation has struggled to reach devastated towns and voices that had been crying out from the rubble fell silent.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/death-toll-devastating-earthquake-hit-turkey-and-syria-has-soared-above-5000

Continue ReadingDeath toll from the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has soared above 5,000

BP makes historic £23bn profit as Brits freeze and the planet burns

Just Stop Oil protests at BP
Just Stop Oil protests at BP

Campaigners call for polluters’ tax as oil firms make record gains

UNION leaders have attacked Tory weakness on taxing big oil companies after BP announced record-high profits off the back of the energy crisis.

As millions struggle to heat their homes across the UK, the energy giant revealed it raked in $27.7bn (£23bn) in profit in 2022 — more than double the previous year.

The firm also admitted that it will miss its carbon emissions pledge, saying it was now aiming to reduce emissions by 20-30 per cent by 2030, down from 35-45 per cent, and will continue to invest in oil and gas.

It comes after oil firm Shell also reported bumper profits last week, totalling an eye-watering $40bn (£33bn) — the highest in the company’s 115-year history — with both firms benefiting from the sharp rise in energy prices linked to the war in Ukraine.

The obscene profits have sparked renewed calls for PM Rishi Sunak to toughen the government’s “inadequate windfall tax on energy firms.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/bp-makes-historic-23bn-profit-as-brits-freeze-and-the-planet-burns

Continue ReadingBP makes historic £23bn profit as Brits freeze and the planet burns

‘Constant cycle of NHS strikes will continue for as long as it takes’

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/constant-cycle-of-strikes-will-continue-long-it-takes

Unions warn of further action as nurses and ambulance workers down tools in biggest-ever walkout

Workers on the picket line outside Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton during a strike by nurses and ambulance staff

A“CONSTANT cycle of national NHS pay strikes will continue for as long as it takes,” unions warned today, as tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance workers downed tools in the biggest-ever health service walkout.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which began a 48-hour strike, said members at 73 health trusts across England withdrew their labour — a massive increase on the 44 that saw action in December’s first walkout.

Unite and GMB paramedics, call handlers and other staff at ambulance trusts also joined the massive industrial action, which NHS leaders said caused “huge disruption.”

Ahead of further strikes by physiotherapists on Thursday and ambulance staff — including Unison members — on Friday, union leaders urged Tory ministers to act on years of falling take-home wages, saying the situation is driving a worker exodus and endangering patient safety.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/constant-cycle-of-strikes-will-continue-long-it-takes

Continue Reading‘Constant cycle of NHS strikes will continue for as long as it takes’