Ahead of the Make Them Pay mobilisation on 20 September, we want people of all faiths and beliefs to urge the UK government to act on all our demands and ensure those responsible for our climate crisis pay.
The full text of the letter can be found below.
Dear Rachel Reeves and David Lammy,
United by a common desire to care for our planet, we call on you to ensure that those most responsible for climate breakdown pay their fair share.
The climate crisis is a cost of living crisis. UK households are facing £3,000 in costs due to climate damage this year alone.
Making polluters – fossil fuel companies and the UK’s extremely wealthy individuals – pay, would raise billions of pounds of vital revenue.
This could ease the unaffordable high costs of energy for people in the UK, boost the clean energy transition, and generate crucial funds for those hit by climate disasters both at home and globally.
There is no shortage of policies to achieve this, you could:
- Establish a Climate Damages Tax
- Remove and redirect incentives for North Sea oil and gas companies
- Implement a 2% tax on assets over £10 million
These actions would help distribute wealth fairly and tackle rising poverty.
With COP30 fast approaching, we urge you to do the right thing and show up for our communities in the UK and globally by being a good neighbour and using taxes to make polluters pay.
Why are we part of the Make Them Pay alliance? The numbers speak for themselves. In 2024, global billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion. UK billionaires amassed a further £35 million a day. For most of the rest of us, struggles are only growing, with public services like the NHS and schools under pressure and climate disasters on the rise globally.
The power and wealth of the super-rich is growing by the day, and big oil is still banking billions each year. If we don’t fight back, communities will pay for billionaires to become trillionaires as the climate collapses around us and governments get taken over by oligarchs.
Many faith traditions contain core teachings about the importance of sharing and distributing wealth fairly and eradicating poverty, including through just systems of taxation. We shared these in a previous interfaith letter to the government that we sent in June 2025.
For Christians, the teachings of Jesus call us to care for the poor, share what we have, and walk humbly with God. The earliest Christians shared possessions so that no one was in need.
In Islam, zakāh requires people over a certain income level to give a portion of their savings to those in need.
Judaism requires ‘ma’aser’, 10% of one’s income to go to those in need.
Quakers view progressive taxes as a means to build a more sustainable, peaceful and equal society.
Sikh teachings promote honest work, sharing, and contributing to the common good.
These are only some examples of the many faith perspectives that align with Make Them Pay’s demands: tax the super-rich, protect workers not billionaires, and hold polluters accountable.
That’s why on Saturday, September 20, we will be part of a faith bloc joining thousands in London in a major call to Make Them Pay. Register here to join our interfaith vigil before the march.