G20 agrees to make the super-rich pay their taxes

27 July 2024

The G20 has made an important first step in reversing the unsustainable and extractive flow of wealth from the world’s poor to a handful of billionaires. At a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, G20 finance ministers agreed on the need to work together on taxing the world’s richest individuals.

Shreeshan Venkatesh, Global Policy Lead at Climate Action Network International, said: “This is the first time the G20 has agreed on the need to tax super-rich individuals. It’s now clear that the world’s most powerful governments accept that fair and progressive taxation is essential for strengthening countries’ capacity to confront and manage inequalities, climate change and the many other priorities to improve people’s wellbeing. 

With its Tax Declaration agreed, G20 countries must now show that they mean business in the negotiations on the UN Tax Convention by pushing for ambitious and equitable taxation approaches. 

There is no climate action without justice, and that includes incorporating tax justice and debt justice as inviolable guardrails of the world’s financial systems.”

Contact: media@climatenetwork.org