In response to the launch by France and Kenya of an international taxation taskforce at COP28 to push for new levies to raise further money for climate action, Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead, said:
“While the will to move the international tax agenda towards raising critical new funds for countries most affected by the climate crisis is welcome, the proposals being put on the table fall far short of what is needed. Taxing excess profits and the obscene wealth in the hands of the top 1% should be at the core of this initiative. That’s where the money is -and this is what is needed to help stop the runaway inequality that is fuelling climate breakdown.
“Nearly half a million people around the world have already signed Oxfam’s Make Rich Polluters Pay petition. Together, we all believe that rich polluters -the top 1% and corporations that profit off the destruction of our planet -should pay for the damage caused by the climate crisis and for using up a disproportionate share of the carbon we have left to burn without increasing global temperatures above the limit of 1.5°C. This could easily be achieved by fairly taxing wealth and windfall profits.
“Rich countries need to listen to the demands from the Global South to overhaul the global tax system to make it inclusive and fairer. A UN tax convention could pave the way for reforms to a global tax system that currently favours rich countries.”
