A coalition of nearly 300 millionaires, economists and politicians have come together to write an open letter to the G20 ahead of the Delhi summit calling on developed and emerging economies to use this weekend’s meeting to forge an international deal that will increase taxes on the wealth of the super rich.
The letter, signed among others by Disney heiress Abigail Disney and artists Brian Eno and Richard Curtis, calls for urgent action to prevent extreme wealth from “corroding our collective future” and urges the G20 to demonstrate the same cooperation that he demonstrated by ensuring that multinational companies pay a minimum level of tax.
“A lot of work has already been done. There are plenty of policy proposals on wealth taxes from some of the world’s leading economists. The public wants it. we want it. Now the only thing missing is the political will to achieve it. It is time for them to find it”, affirm the signatories.
The letter, an initiative organized by Patriotic Millionaires, the Institute for Policy Studies, Earth 4 All, Millionaires for Humanity and Oxfam, says raising wealth taxes would reduce “dangerous levels of inequality.”
Other known signatories to the letter include US Senator Bernie Sanders, former UN General Assembly President Maria Espinosa, and economists Gabriel Zucman, Jayati Ghosh, Kate Raworth, Joe Stiglitz, Lucas Chancel, and Thomas Piketty.
On the other hand, the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, demanded today in Nairobi at the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) that developed countries be more ambitious and fulfill their promises against the climate crisis, which disproportionately affects the continent.
“This continent emits only four percent of global emissions, but it suffers some of the worst effects of rising global temperatures: extreme heat, relentless flooding, and tens of thousands of deaths from devastating droughts,” Guterres said during his speech.
Guterres also called for “correcting the course of the global financial system,” ensuring an “effective debt relief mechanism” and affordable rates.
“The global financial system must be an ally to developing countries as they push for a just and equitable green transition that leaves no one behind,” he added, before highlighting Africa’s potential to become “a world leader in renewable energy.” .
The summit in Delhi is marked by the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, seen in part as a political statement due to growing tensions with India.
This would be the first time that the Chinese president has not attended a G20 summit since he took office in 2008. Although he did not attend the 2020 and 2021 meetings in person due to covid-19 policies, he was virtually connected, without delegating the power to any other representative of his cabinet.
The differences between India and China have been escalating over the last three years and the relationship is going through one of its lowest moments, after one of the worst border clashes between both powers in 2020.
Therefore, the fact that the leader of one of the largest global economies is absent from the world’s first financial forum, the G20, just when its neighbor and rival India holds the presidency of the group is seen in part as a political statement directed at the government of the first Indian Minister Narendra Modi.
The absence of Xi, in addition to the already confirmed absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also pose new limitations to reach a group consensus that so far none of the ministerial meetings have managed to unblock.
