GENEVA - As the leaders of the 19 member countries plus the African Union and the European Union gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the G20 Leaders' Summit, two UN experts called on G20 leaders to tax the super-rich to fill the gaps in financing the Sustainable Development Goals. They issued the following statement:
"While we applaud the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, translating this pledge into action would require resources. Taxing the world's billionaires provides an equitable pathway to generate much-needed additional resources to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. A transfer of just 0.14 percent of global income could allow eradication of poverty by 2030.
Brazil as part of its G20 Presidency had proposed to impose a 2 percent tax on the super-rich (around 3,000 people owning more than US$1 billion in assets), which could generate US$200-250 billion in revenue per year. However, due to the opposition of a few developed countries, the proposal was put on the backburner and the G20 finance ministers merely decided "to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed".
With 84 percent of SDG targets off-track, it is high time for G20 leaders to lead by example and mobilise the required resources. There is clear evidence that the world needs innovative sources of financing - additional, adequate and stable source of financing that does not add to the existing debt burdens of developing countries.
States, as part of the Pact for the Future adopted in September 2024, also agreed to explore 'options for international cooperation on the taxation of high-net-worth individuals in the appropriate forums'.
As the world community gears up towards the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development and States move towards negotiating the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, it is critical to adopt a human rights approach to taxation. Taxation is essentially a human rights issue: who should pay how much tax and how the collected revenue should be spent has a direct bearing on the realisation of all human rights.
Accumulation of wealth by selected individuals is often directly linked to a systematic exploitation of people or the planet: the wealthiest 10 percent of the population emit 75-80 percent of all emissions responsible for the heating of the planet through the assets they own. Taxing the super-rich is an imperative of fairness and global justice, and it is a modest compensation for the damage caused by how assets are fuelling the climate crisis."
