It’s that time of year again as global elites gather in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the World Economic Forum, to discuss and debate a range of globally significant issues from trade to AI to climate. Of course, this year there’s an awkward diary clash too, with the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the USA taking place in Washington DC on Monday 20 January.
The formal proceedings of Davos are widely criticised as a talking shop for billionaires. The meeting of the powerful and wealthy 1% against a backdrop of stubborn levels of global poverty and an increasingly unstable world in terms of conflict and climate – has actually become an opportunity to highlight global inequalities.
This year Oxfam’s inequality report, timed to coincide with the Forum, points out that billionaire wealth has risen three times faster in 2024 than 2023, whilst the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990. Strikingly, they take issue with the belief that the super-rich have worked hard for their money, finding that 60% of billionaire wealth comes from either inheritance, cronyism and corruption, or monopoly power.
How JustMoney Movement is Driving Change
Hundreds of JustMoney Movement campaigners have been writing to Members of Parliament about this issue in recent months – particularly focusing on the need to tax extreme wealth to raise revenue to invest in crumbling public services, tackle poverty, and fight climate change. We especially wanted to influence the UK Government’s involvement in two key international meetings in November.
As a Christian organisation we want to see world leaders demonstrating care for the vulnerable and for creation, as part of seeking a world where everyone has the opportunity to flourish.
At the G20 summit in Brazil, world leaders including Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed to cooperate globally on taxing the super-rich, which is a positive step forward, if lacking in detail. As South Africa takes the G20 reins later this year we’ll be looking out for opportunities to hold them to account.
Even more significantly, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to begin negotiating a new UN framework convention on tax, with talks starting in February 2025. This could help create democratic mechanisms for agreeing global standards around taxing extreme wealth, as well as tackling tax dodging, which could recover some of the billions of dollars lost in revenue to nations worldwide. Sadly, the UK voted against the UN agreement so we’ll be working with our allies to see what we can do to influence them to engage more positively in the months ahead.
You can take action now and write to your MP. Asking them to support taxes on extreme wealth here in the UK. By doing so you’ll add your voice to the growing calls for the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share towards a more just and sustainable world.
Let’s demand accountability from the super-rich and fight for an economy that works for everyone.