Carbon-tax push amid spiral to 'climate hell'

World leaders are making the case for tougher action to tackle global warming, with the international climate talks in Egypt hearing growing calls for fossil fuel companies to partly pay for the damage they have helped cause to the planet and to those in vulnerable countries.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned that humanity is on "a highway to climate hell, with our foot on the accelerator," urging countries to "cooperate or perish."

Some of the strongest pleas for action came so far from leaders of poor nations that caused little of the pollution but often get a larger share of the weather-related damage.

Nigeria's environment minister Mohammed Abdullahi called for wealthy nations to show "positive and affirmative" commitments to help countries hardest hit by climate change. "Our priority is to be aggressive when it comes to climate funding to mitigate the challenges of loss and damage [toward developing nations by the richest, most polluting countries]," he said.

Leaders of poorer nations, joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, talked about the issue as one of justice and fairness.

"Our part of the world has to choose between life and death,'' Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan said.

"Africa should not pay for crimes they have not committed," Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera said, adding that rich nations were to blame for the climate problem.

"Climate change is directly threatening our people's lives, health and future daily," Kenyan President William Ruto said of the African continent, which he said is looking at US$50 billion (HK$390 billion) a year in climate change damage by 2050. Ruto said Kenya is choosing to not use many of its "dirty energy" resources even though it could help the poor nation financially and has instead opted for cleaner fuels.

Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan said: "Like other islands, our contribution in the destruction of the planet is minimal. Yet we suffer the most."

The idea of a windfall tax on carbon profits has gained traction in recent months amid sky-high earnings for oil and gas majors.