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Action Center

For decades, Big Polluters like Exxon, Shell, and Chevron have fueled the climate crisis, knowing full well the implication of their actions. They deceived the public, bought political influence, and pushed junk science. They have polluted air and water, and destroyed and stolen the ancestral lands of Black and Indigenous people, Global South communities, and communities of color around the world.

Today, as the world grapples with the intersecting crises of climate change, COVID-19, and systemic racism, Big Polluters are bankrolling public relations (PR) schemes that paint them as saviors—while continuing to profit from pollution and abuse.

Around the world, people are demanding justice. They are demanding systemic change. And it’s the people on the front lines of these crises—Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, and people in the Global South—who are leading the way for real solutions.

Justice includes ensuring that those most responsible for driving the climate crisis, perpetuating systemic racism and oppression, and profiting from the COVID-19 pandemic are made to pay.

That’s why the Make Big Polluters Pay convening organizations have produced a roadmap for decision-makers at all levels to hold Big Polluters liable—and the set of tools below for organizations and activists like you to build the movement to Make Big Polluters Pay.

 

Take action!

You can help Make Big Polluters Pay and advance climate justice!

Today, people across the globe are coming together for a day of action on social media to demand decision-makers at all levels act to Make Big Polluters Pay.

 Join the global day of action to Make Big Polluters Pay

The Make Big Polluters Pay coalition has just launched the liability roadmap: a new tool showcasing the steps decision-makers at all levels can take to Make Big Polluters Pay.

Today, people across the globe are coming together for a day of action on social media to make sure decision-makers at all levels hear our voices and act to #MakeThemPay.

Join us! Click on each image to download, and scroll down for sample social media posts.

Act in your community to Make Big Polluters Pay

 Browse through these resources to find actions you can take in your own community. In addition to the toolkits below, you can:

  • Or use the information in the links above to write to your local or national newspaper and media outlets to call on decision-makers in your community to #MakeThemPay.

  • Organize a boycott of a big polluting corporation in your community.

  • Reach out to us for more ideas or support at info [at] makebigpolluterspay.org.

 More Ways to Make Big Polluters Pay

Click on each image to learn more.

 

Move local officials to #MakeThemPay

Mayors and other city leaders can pay a powerful role in holding Big Polluters accountable for the devastation they’ve caused. Learn how you can move your local officials to take action to Make Big Polluters Pay—and have an outsized impact in the global movement for polluter liability.

Note: This toolkit is designed for U.S.-based organizers, but many of its contents may be applicable in other regions.

Learn more >

Plug into other networks and organizations building the movement to make polluters pay

The movement to Make Big Polluters Pay is big—and it’s only growing bigger. Around the world, organizations and people are organizing to hold polluters accountable: from their own towns and communities, all the way to U.N. institutions like international treaties and the International Criminal Court.

Learn more >

Let us know about Big Polluters’ abuses in your community

Around the globe, Big Polluters’ actions are devastating people’s lives, destroying livelihoods and poisoning the planet. It’s past time they paid for their harms. Exposing these abuses publicly is a key step toward stopping polluters -- and holding them accountable. If you have firsthand experience or information about a polluting corporation in your community that should be held liable for its actions, we want to hear from you.

Learn more >

Build a regional coalition—and make your demands visible.

Civil society organizations in Africa have formed a powerful regional coalition demanding decision-makers across the continent act to Make Big Polluters Pay. Check out their joint letter to African decision-makers, and craft your own to make your demands clear to both decision-makers and Big Polluters in your region.

Note: This letter was written for Africa-based decision-makers, but is a useful sample for organizers and activists in other regions.

Learn more >

 

Who We Are

Thank you for taking action with the global campaign to Make Big Polluters Pay! We are a global movement demanding just solutions to the climate crisis, with 15 convening organizations, mostly based in the Global South. Since September 2019, hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of organizations have added their voices to make Big Polluters pay.