Energy & Climate
Michigan sues Big Oil ‘cartel’
Oil majors taken to court for climate deception & violating antitrust laws to limit energy options and drive up costs.
31 January 2026
Main image: Greenpeace UK activists stage a protest outside Shell’s London HQ, holding giant figures comparing Shell’s annual profit with the UK’s 2025 bill for damages caused by extreme weather © Angela Christofilou / Greenpeace
Shell’s 2025 annual profits statement of £13.6 billion stands in stark contrast to the misery suffered last year by communities across the UK; successive storms, floods, wildfires and drought led to losses and damages exceeding £2.8 billion.
Following the profits announcement, Greenpeace activists staged a protest outside Shell’s London HQ, holding giant figures comparing Shell’s annual profit with the UK’s 2025 bill for damages caused by extreme weather.
In 2025, insurance pay-outs of £936 million were made to thousands of homeowners and businesses recovering from weather-related property damage, according to the latest available data.
At the same time the UK’s hottest spring and summer on record proved disastrous for farmers, whose crop losses exceeded £800 million.
The impacts from wildfires were felt across the country, with damages climbing beyond £478 million.
At the same time local councils are facing spiralling costs, spending on average £566 million on clear-up operations in the wake of flooding events.
‘Shell’s dirty profits are an insult to communities who have been on the frontlines of extreme weather events fuelled by climate-wrecking oil and gas emissions. The oil giant’s profits could cover the UK’s £2.8bn climate damage bill from floods, fires, storms and droughts almost five times over.
‘Extreme weather, and the damage it is causing, will only get worse as fossil fuel-driven climate change intensifies. It is reprehensible that Shell is allowed to act with impunity. Governments must make these oil giants pay for the climate chaos they have created. While they wallow in their profits, home-owners, shop-keepers, farmers and firefighters are paying the price.’
MAJA DARLINGTON
Greenpeace climate campaigner
UK damages are a drop in the ocean when it comes to the costs of extreme weather events globally. The 10 most expensive disasters of 2025 totalled over £90 billion in estimated losses.
This is still a fraction of the true cost of last year’s extreme weather, which remains hidden.
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