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Fossil fuel companies could be forced to pay some of the price of their damage to the climate, and the ultra-rich subjected to a global wealth tax, if new tax rules are agreed under the UN.
Negotiations on a planned global tax treaty will resume at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, with dozens of countries supporting stronger rules that would make polluters pay for the impact of their activities.
But developing countries are worried the current draft of the proposals is too weak, and want more robust backing from the rich world. Clear proposals on taxing the profits of fossil fuel companies have been watered down in their language, and proposals for a global asset registry that would help in taxing wealthy individuals have been removed from the text.
Marlene Nembhard Parker, main delegate for Jamaica at the negotiations for the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, said: “In the context of Hurricane Melissa, which wiped the equivalent of 40% off our GDP overnight, it is time that the draft template text on sustainable development gets fleshed out. A much clearer link now needs to be made to environmental taxation and climate change, with clearer agreements on the actions that must be taken, nationally and internationally, particularly for the countries and industries who are most responsible.”
Negotiating the convention, which could be adopted as soon as the end of next year if countries can iron out details, was now urgent, she added, as more countries were afflicted by climate-related disasters. “This [tax] is critical for domestic resource mobilisation so that countries can sustainably rebuild and become resilient to increasingly devastating climate impacts, rather than become more dependent on borrowing and debt,” she told the Guardian. “There can be no sustainability without dealing with climate change in the way we design our global tax rules.”
Progress on the tax treaty, which was first proposed by African countries in 2022, has been slow so far. The US has withdrawn from the talks, though this need not prevent other countries pressing ahead. Some rich countries have also argued that tax matters should be discussed within the OECD, of which only advanced economies are members, rather than within the UN, where all countries have a say.
If it can be made to work, the treaty could be a big step forward in making fossil fuel producers pay for the damage they cause, and in ensuring the richest contribute. Inequality rates have soared in recent years, with the wealthiest 0.001% of the population – roughly 56,000 people – holding three times more wealth than the poorer 50%, and the disparity is growing.
Sergio Chapparo Hernandes, of the Tax Justice Network (TJN), said, “The next round of talks in New York will be a real test: can member states craft international tax rules that are fit for the age of climate catastrophe?”
He added: “Civil society is pushing for the convention to include a clear mandate to advance progressive environmental taxation: making sure polluters pay, and that richer countries lead in ways that reduce global inequalities and support climate-resilient development in countries most affected – consistent with their historical responsibilities.”
Countries are losing $492bn (£359bn) a year in tax, as multinational corporations and wealthy individuals use tax havens to underpay, according to TJN. Oil and gas companies have made hundreds of billions in bumper profits in recent years, especially from the spike in prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to Eurodad and the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, a 20% surtax on the profits of the 100 biggest producers would have yielded more than $1tn in the 10 years since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015.
For many of those most vulnerable to the climate crisis, taxing the companies that are driving the crisis is essential to achieving climate justice. Tapugao Falefou, Tuvalu’s permanent representative to the UN, said: “The responsibility lies with the world’s biggest polluters. The fossil fuel industry and the super-rich continue to increase their wealth while we try to keep our heads above water.”
Countries could impose taxes on fossil fuel consumption for themselves, and many do so, but only those where the extractive industries are based can put direct charges on its exploitation, hence the push for a global tax regime. Similarly, many countries are reluctant to consider wealth taxes, despite evidence of their success in some countries, for fear of putting the ultra-wealthy to flight, but if a large group of countries were to agree on minimum taxes on wealth it could help assuage such fears. An annual wealth tax of up to 5% on the ultra-rich would raise about $1.7tn a year.
The UK had previously been regarded by campaigners as sceptical about whether the UN is the right locus for tax negotiations, but campaigners say it has recently taken a more positive approach, including endorsing the “polluter pays” principle.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Treasury said: “The UK has been an active participant in tax negotiations at the UN and remains committed to working constructively to ensure inclusive and effective international tax cooperation.”
