Dear Leaders of the G20,

While many of us are hit with energy bills we can’t afford and faced with record-breaking heat waves, floods and fires, billionaires are getting richer – in the last ten years alone, billionaires’ wealth has doubled.¹ The richest 1% also emit as much planet-heating pollution as two-thirds of the Earth’s population.² All while the rest of us are becoming worse off and the planet is burning. 

As global citizens concerned with spiralling inequality and climate breakdown, we call on you to tax the wealth of the ultra-rich now. A tax like this could raise hundreds of billions annually, enough to roll out renewable energy around the world at the scale and speed required, compensate countries for loss and damage and alleviate poverty.

By making the ultra-rich pay what they owe, we can turn climate promises into climate action and increase investment in other urgent issues like healthcare, public transport, and support for people living in poverty. 

A fair minimum tax on multi-millionaires and billionaires would lower costs and increase access to affordable renewable energy around the world, and reduce climate pollution to ensure a livable planet for the future. 

This kind of tax is not radical, and already a handful of countries have implemented a tax on excessive wealth. What defies all logic is continuing to let the people with the most amount of wealth on earth pay less income tax than the rest of us and exploit our shared resources while doing so.

Momentum is building around the world for more countries to tax wealth. 70% of people in G20 countries support this policy³ and some Ministers from the Brazilian, German, French, Spanish and South African governments have signed an open letter calling for a fairer tax system.⁴

It's time the ultra-rich pay what they owe. 

Sources:

1. Oxfam, 2023: “Survival of the Richest”

2. Oxfam, 2023: "Climate inequality: A planet for the 99%."

3. Environment Journal: Reasons to be cheerful: G20 tax reform support bolsters climate rethink

4. The Guardian: World’s billionaires should pay minimum 2% wealth tax, say G20 ministers