G20 Finance Ministers: It’s high time we tax the super-rich, for the sake of people, planet- CAN

Ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers Summit in July, the Brazilian G20 Presidency commissioned a report to highlight the details and feasibility of a coordinated minimum tax on billionaires. Climate Action Network International reacts to the report “A blueprint for a coordinated minimum tax on the ultra-high-net-worth individuals” and highlights the urgent imperative for coordination on global taxation.

“While we always hear that public funding is scarce, extreme wealth concentration actually hurts everyone. Taxing more of those who are responsible for higher pollution and remain largely exempt from paying, is a win-win strategy: it is a radical way to unlock States’ budgets while also effectively fighting against tax avoidance”, says Rebecca Thissen, Global Advocacy Lead at CAN International.

Our global financial architecture is profoundly flawed, inequitable, and distorted against the poor. “Today the rich are getting richer, and they are also more responsible for climate impacts. Global coordination on tax justice is essential to address these injustices and fight against the climate crisis. We need a new global tax regime guided by the United Nations instead of by rich countries. Which incorporates more progressivity in tax systems, under a global coordinated standard to make the super-rich pay more. We can fix this”

CAN welcomes the report as an important step to ensure political commitment to deliver a real agenda on taxing the super-rich. “Brazil has shown strong leadership on this issue as president of the G20. It is timely and needed. We need to accelerate the global agenda to make rich polluters pay. The G20 Finance Ministers meeting in July is a good place to start”, concludes Rebecca Thissen.

Climate Action Network International (CAN) is a global network of more than 1,900 civil society organisations in over 130 countries driving collective and sustainable action to fight the climate crisis and to achieve social justice. CAN convenes and coordinates civil society at the UN climate talks and other international fora.