The last fossil fuel crisis caused incredible amounts of pain for the people of Europe. In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, gas prices skyrocketed, resulting in the costs of energy rising to cripplingly high levels. Every European Union citizen overpaying for their fossil gas and power sent 150 euros ($175) to the United States per year, according to a recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

That pain meant unprecedented profits for fossil fuel companies. In 2023, the world’s oil and gas industry earned a whopping $2.7 trillion, and invested just 4 percent of its capital expenditure in clean energy.

These crises are moments of extreme injustice. Not only are people paying a price for fossil fuel use through the immediate climate impacts, but they are now suffering through increasingly frequent price crises where meals are skipped, jobs are lost, and lights are turned off. This public dip in conditions and cost of living runs parallel to an upwards swing for fossil fuel companies’ blood profits.

The least governments can do at this moment is impose a windfall tax on energy companies and use the proceeds to cushion the blow to households and fund an energy transition.

As was the case in 2022, the resurgence of fossil fuel company mega-profits we are seeing now has come about as the direct consequence of bloody conflict. In late February, the US and Israel attacked Iran. The conflict soon spread across the region. By now, more than 3,000 Iranians have been killed, including more than 150 schoolgirls and teachers at a school that was hit. More than 2,000 Lebanese people have also been killed, as well as 23 Israelis and dozens of people across the Gulf region.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is triggering a global upwards shift in oil and gas prices. Recently released reports for the first quarter of the year, which includes the first month of the war, already show windfall profits for energy companies.

Last week, BP announced “stronger than expected” earnings of $3.2bn, far higher than the projected $2.63bn. Shares in the company rose 2.5 percent on the morning of the announcement. TotalEnergies also reported a 29 percent jump in first-quarter earnings to $5.4bn. ExxonMobil’s Q1 earnings were lower, but that is because some profits from sales in March will be reflected in the report for the second quarter of the year.

With analysts projecting a spike in oil prices even if the Strait of Hormuz is opened soon, these windfall profits are set to continue. A recent analysis from Oxfam International found that fossil fuel companies are projected to earn $3,000 a second in 2026.

This is the natural consequence of a global energy system dependent on the extraction and transport of a critical fuel through narrow, vulnerable chokepoints. But it is also very much an outcome of greed and the profit motive.

Fossil fuel companies have acted over the decades to ensure that humanity remains trapped in this system. This goes back to the efforts to deny climate change and attack alternatives as far back as the 1980s. It also relates to efforts to manufacture demand for their products by lobbying governments and pushing for investment in industries that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

As energy think tank Ember recently explored, previous fossil fuel crises have ultimately failed to decouple the world from this fundamentally vulnerable and unreliable system. But this time, wind, solar, energy storage and electric vehicles are significantly cheaper, even compared to 2022’s fossil fuel crisis.

Ember correctly highlights that there is no default destiny here, and that “the temptation will be to reach for the familiar playbook – more drilling, more subsidies, more supply diversification”. But temptation can be resisted.

Short-term sugar hits from cutting fossil fuel taxes only end up transferring even more money from ordinary people to the powerful, and those knee-jerk policy responses should be replaced with targeted relief for those who need it most.

Fossil fuel companies should, at the absolute bare minimum, be hit with windfall taxes, and that money should be shared with the most vulnerable in the form of social support for impoverished households. They should also be channelled to countries hit hardest by climate change. Such support would essentially act as reparations paid by high-level polluters for those suffering irreversible damage.

Windfall tax revenues should also be used to fund the transition away from fossil fuels in order to make countries more immune to energy shocks. Governments should introduce bold and urgent oil demand elimination programmes focused on public and active transport, and the incentivisation of small cars. New policies that help the most vulnerable citizens, such as Australia’s daytime cheap solar power scheme, should be urgently implemented.

We cannot survive in this system. Hooking humanity on a fuel that becomes more profitable for companies when there is more bloodshed and conflict is a guaranteed recipe for more suffering in every way imaginable.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Tensions are rising in the Gulf again after the United Arab Emirates said it intercepted 15 missiles and four drones fired from Iran and warned that it reserves the right to respond to the “treacherous” attacks.

The attacks on Monday mark the first time the UAE has been targeted since Iran and the United States agreed to a ceasefire on April 8.

According to authorities in the UAE, one drone attack set off a “large” fire at the Fujairah Petroleum Industries Zone and wounded three Indian nationals. Officials also said Iran attacked an empty crude oil tanker belonging to the state oil firm as it attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has denied the UAE’s accusations.

Here’s how officials around the world responded to the attacks:

Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it condemned and denounced “in the strongest terms” the Iranian targeting of civilian and economic facilities in the UAE, as well as a vessel belonging to an Emirati company.

“The kingdom affirms its solidarity with the brotherly United Arab Emirates in the measures it takes to preserve its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to cease these attacks,” it added.

Qatar

Qatar said it “strongly condemns the renewed Iranian attacks” and considers the strikes to be a “blatant violation of the UAE’s sovereignty and a serious threat to the security and stability of the region”.

Qatar also affirmed its “full solidarity” with the UAE and said it supported “all measures taken by the UAE to preserve its sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity”.

Kuwait

Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Iran’s “reprehensible aggression” in targeting a UAE oil tanker and deploying drones in a “direct threat to maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”.

Iran’s actions were a “clear breach of the principle of freedom of navigation in international waterways, threatening regional security and the safety of global supply lines”, it said in a statement on X.

The ministry also called for an immediate end to all aggression, and said it would support the UAE and “all measures it takes to protect its security and interests”.

Bahrain

Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the “Iranian terrorist attacks” and said it considered the strikes “a dangerous escalation that threatens the security and stability of the region”.

It also expressed support for the UAE in any retaliatory measures it takes and called on the United Nations Security Council “to take firm and deterrent positions and measures against these repeated and unjustified Iranian attacks”.

Jordan

Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi spoke with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and condemned “the renewed Iranian attacks on the UAE”, according to the Petra news agency.

Safadi reiterated Jordan’s “absolute solidarity” with the UAE “in confronting these attacks”. He described the strikes as “a dangerous escalation and a threat to the UAE’s security, stability, territorial integrity and the safety of its citizens and residents, as well as a blatant violation of international law and the UN charter”.

Germany

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz strongly condemned Iran’s attacks and expressed his solidarity with the people of the UAE.

“Tehran must return to the negotiating table and stop holding the region and the world hostage: The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz must end. Tehran must not acquire a nuclear weapon. There must be no further threats or attacks against our partners,” he wrote in a statement on X.

Canada

The office of Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a post on X that “Canada strongly condemns Iran’s unprovoked missile and drone strikes on the United Arab Emirates and stands in solidarity with its people”.

Carney stated that Canada commends “efforts to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure” and reiterates its call for de-escalation and diplomacy in the region.

France

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Iran’s strikes on the UAE, describing them as “unjustified and unacceptable” and pledging continued French support for allies in the region.

“As it has done since the start of the conflict, France will continue to support its allies in the Emirates and in the region for the defence of their territory,” Macron said in a post on X.

United Kingdom

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attacks and called for Iran to engage in talks to prevent any further escalation.

“We stand in solidarity with the UAE and ‌will continue to support the defence of our partners in the Gulf. This escalation must cease. Iran needs to engage meaningfully in negotiations to ensure the ceasefire ⁠in the Middle East ⁠endures, and a long-term diplomatic solution is achieved,” Starmer said.

Gulf Cooperation Council

The regional bloc denounced the attack on the Emirati oil tanker “in the strongest terms”, with Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed Al Badawi expressing his full support for any measures the UAE takes “to preserve its sovereignty, security and stability”.

“The continuation of these brutal Iranian attacks by targeting ships passing through the strait is piracy and serious extortion of the security of sea lanes and straits,” he added.

European Union

EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen denounced the attacks and extended her full solidarity to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his people.

“These attacks are unacceptable and constitute a clear violation of sovereignty and international law. Security in the region has direct consequences for Europe,” she wrote on X.

“So we will keep working closely with our partners on de-escalation and diplomatic resolution, to bring an end to the Iranian regime’s brutal actions, both against its neighbours and its own people.”

An explosion at a fireworks plant in a central Chinese province has killed at least 21 people and injured 61 others. Nearly 500 rescuers were deployed to the scene, as authorities search for the missing and investigate the cause of the blast.