A charity has suggested that tax on wealthy Britons of just 0.5% could more than meet the UK’s entire “fair share” contribution to the international loss and damage fund established to support countries worst hit by global climate breakdown.
According to an analysis by the anti-poverty campaigners Christian Aid, Taxing 5p of every £10 of individuals’ wealth over £1m would raise £15bn a year by 2030, well in excess of an estimated $15bn (£12bn) UK contribution to the new fund.
Established at last year’s Cop27 climate summit in Egypt, the loss and damage fund is intended to provide compensation for climate-related disasters that are beyond the possibility of adaptation. Sought by developing countries since 1992, the fund was the most contentious issue at the UN conference, and many of its specifics are yet to be ironed out.
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Estimates of its potential cost differ, but the range of $290bn-$580bn a year by 2030 is often cited, with a midpoint of about $400bn, taking into account inflation and rising climate impacts. Christian Aid estimates the UK’s “fair share” of this to be about 3.5%, or $15bn.
According to the charity, a wealth tax of the kind envisaged in its report would affect the top 5% of households, with the burden disproportionately borne by the top 1%. This has the advantage of being levied on those who are likely to be disproportionately high polluters in their consumption and personal investment.
The report suggests that the entire sum could also be raised through a tax of up to 95% on the excess profits of fossil fuel companies, which are enjoying all-time record surpluses Or the money could be raised through a combination of measures including air passenger levies, emissions trading schemes and an expanded financial transactions tax.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
