In January, Greenpeace activists sent a clear message at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: #TaxTheSuperRich to fund a green and just future. They blocked the entrance to a heliport, infiltrated the main conference hall and 'confiscated' private jets. This month, we are taking our demands for fair global tax rules to the G20 in South Africa, as the Finance Ministers meet for their first session.
The world is battling deepening and interlocking polycrises. Record-breaking temperatures, extreme weather events and ecosystems on the verge of collapse. Billionaires on their way to being trillionaires, exerting more undue influence on our lives.
And through it all, there is a dominating discourse that there isn't enough money to solve our shared global challenges. It's a false narrative. There's enough money to solve our social, environmental and climate problems. But too often it is in the hands of the super-rich elite who are exploiting the planet beyond its limits. While they live cocooned in luxury, marginalised communities suffer the brunt of social and environmental crises from higher costs of living to extreme weather events.
Why we are at G20 calling for new global tax rules at the UN
The Brazilian G20 presidency last year put forward a proposal for a 2% tax per year for the world's 3000 billionaires to raise US$250bn per year for the global fight against social and the climate and biodiversity crises. It was an important step forward as the G20 set the stage to introduce a wealth tax on high-net individuals.
Global tax rules are currently controlled by a small clique of wealthy countries who allow multinational corporations and the super-rich to shift profits and wealth to low tax rate jurisdictions. For too long, it has allowed for tax evasion and abuse, benefiting the already extremely wealthy. It's a moral outrage that billionaires - a group disproportionately responsible for the climate and biodiversity crises - are taxed less on their wealth than those most impacted by the social and climate crisis.
But thanks to the African UN member states initiating the process in 2023, new global tax rules in a UN tax convention are being negotiated, from now until 2027. This is not only timely, but a historic opportunity to redistribute power and wealth, and foster tax transparency and accountability. It aims to take control of global tax rules from just a few rich OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries to place it in the hands of the 193 member states of the United Nations.
Reclaiming what's lost through the broken tax system is not just crucial, it is inevitable to restore democracy, equality and generate revenues for governments, so they can address social, climate and environmental needs. We need to break the vicious cycles of exploitation that many Global Majority countries are trapped in – and new and fair tax rules can help to do that.
Calls to tax the rich gaining momentum
Demands for fair taxation are growing louder and stronger; and this year offers many opportunities to take key steps to fix our broken and unjust global tax system.
People have had enough. A survey of 22,000 citizens in the world's largest economies by Earth4All revealed an overwhelming 68 percent of G20 respondents are supportive of higher taxes on the wealthy to finance significant economic and lifestyle changes. Greenpeace has joined an alliance of over 50 civil society organisations urging governments to #TaxTheSuperRich and end extreme inequality. Over 370 millionaires and billionaires are asking to be taxed and recently, the Vatican hosted a big conference with prominent guests on tax justice and economic reform..
The South African G20 presidency has set course to act in the spirit of Ubuntu – "I am because you are" – in order to seek collective solutions to pressing challenges. G20 leaders need to display true and bold leadership on economic reform. This means strong language in the G20 declarations on wealth tax and new global tax rules at the UN, so that the economy works for the people, and not the other way around. The time for action is now!
Join the movement! Together, let's urge governments to tax the super-rich and fund a green and fair future.
Cynthia Moyo is a Climate and Energy Campaigner with Greenpeace Africa, following the G20 in South Africa.
