Press conference from COP29 online here
14th November, 2024. Baku, Azerbaijan. Today, climate activists are releasing the Tax Their Billions Dossier, a report spotlighting eight billionaires as examples of a super-rich class who could be taxed much more to generate trillions of dollars – to help tackle the climate crisis and pay for climate damage as negotiators turn to the critical question of ‘who pays’ on Finance Day at the UN Climate Conference (COP29).
This coincides with the launch of ‘Energy of the People’, a campaign that embodies a decolonial approach to energy justice, led by Indigenous people and local communities. It aims to bring safe renewable energy to the Amazon by harnessing the knowledge and skills of the people who live there.
On finance day at COP29, country negotiators will be arguing over who and how to deliver the trillions needed from wealthy countries for climate finance.
350.org is today launching a new briefing paper called ‘Tax Their Billions: How and Why Billionaires Must Pay to Fix the Climate Crisis’. This puts the harmful activities and ultra wealth of eight billionaires under the spotlight as examples of the super wealthy class.
Billionaires like Bernard Arnault, the Batista Brothers or the heirs of the BMW fortune often pay far less than their right and just share in taxes, while contributing disproportionately to the climate crisis, which impacts the poorest people in wealthy nations and climate-vulnerable nations.
The dossier details how a tax on billionaires could generate significant finance that governments in the Global North could use to increase their spending on domestic and international climate finance in the Global South.
Access to affordable, reliable and clean energy is still a challenge for many communities in the Brazilian Amazon. Diesel or gasoline generators are commonplace providing just a few hours of electricity per day. But Indigenous and Traditional communities are leading the way to a brighter future through community led renewable energy. The Energy of the People campaign wants to accelerate the renewable energy transition in Brazil by:
- improving local energy policies,
- calling for fairer finance from rich countries and a global wealth tax
- ensuring Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and the environment are protected.
Outside the negotiations, activists from the Amazon and Traditional communities in Brazil will protest with artivism, creating local art on solar panels and a powerful performance from an Amazonian drag artist in the heart of Rio de Janerio (host city of the G20). They will call on the super rich to pay up to guarantee access to renewable energy in the Amazon. Photos and video of the action in Rio de Janeiro will be available to download here.
Meanwhile in France, Germany and the UK activists are on the streets staging guerilla advertising in key secret locations to demand that governments ‘Tax Their Billions!’ for the people and planet. Photos will be available here as the actions unfold.
Kate Blagojevic, Associate Director for Europe Campaigns and Organising at 350.org said:
“The question of who pays for climate action is at the heart of both this COP and of a culture war that is being stoked across Europe and beyond. Global North governments argue ordinary people will have to pay for the cost of climate action and this is not politically acceptable at home. But they are willfully ignoring the fact that who pays is not an inevitability, but a choice. A political choice that decision makers in the UK, France, Germany and other G20 leaders need to make as they meet next week and agree a way forwards to join together to force the super rich to pay up. The time for denial, distraction and delay is over, we have no time left. Our leaders need to step up and force the ultra wealthy to pay to help fix the climate crisis so that ordinary people aren’t left to foot the bill.”
Ilan Zugman, Latin America Managing Director at 350.org
“Wind and solar power are generating record amounts of energy, with costs dropping every year. Brazil has everything it needs to make these technologies work: abundant sun, wind, and communities already leading the way with innovative solutions to scale up renewable energy. From remote Amazon villages to underserved neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, community-led projects are thriving. Indigenous groups and traditional communities are also setting guidelines for how they should be consulted on renewable energy projects on their land. If the Brazilian government adopts policies that support these efforts, Brazil could lead the world in a people-centered energy transition. President Lula must challenge the outdated idea that fossil fuels are the path to development and instead focus on expanding access to renewable energy that benefits local communities.”
Andreas Sieber, Associate Director of Global Policy at 350.org
“The intensifying climate crisis spares no corner of the world. At COP29, we must establish a climate finance goal that is based on the needs of people and centered on human rights. The quality of the cash committed to climate action is as vital as the quantity. We can’t afford for countries to sink deeper into debt through unforgiving loans – we need substantial sums that are highly concessional or grants-based.”
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Notes to Editors
- According to an Ipsos poll in G20 countries, released in June, 67% of people agree that there is too much economic inequality, and 70% support the principle that wealthy people should pay higher income-tax rates.
- Learn more about Energy of the People
- If you are attending COP29 the location for the press conference is Natavan, Area D at 10:30 local time.
- At the press conference 350.org is launching the Tax Their Billions Dossier in conjunction with the Energy of the People campaign. This press conference will also discuss the status of the negotiations on the new global climate finance goal.
- Speakers:
- Nicolas Haeringer, Associate Director Movement Partnerships at 350.org
- Luene Karipuna, Coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Amapá and Northern Pará (APOIANP)
- Mariana Paoli, Christian Aid (title in the presser doc)
- Ilan Zugman, Latin America Director at 350.org
The Tax Their Billions Dossier (also available in FR, DE, PT) includes:
- Clear justification of why billionaires and the super rich should be forced to pay to help fix the climate crisis and how this could be implemented.
- Country-level analysis for the UK, France, Germany and Brazil presenting both current levels of extreme wealth and how wealth tax revenues on the super rich could be used to deliver a range of benefits at a national level.
- Profiles of eight billionaires that demonstrate how the super-rich operate, covering: Jim Ratcliffe, James Dyson, Bernard Arnault, Vincent Bolleré, siblings Suzanne Klatten and Stefan Quandt, the Porsche-Piech family, Luciano Hang, and the Batista Brothers.
- Outline of how the billions, even trillions, in annual revenue from progressive taxes on extreme wealth could be used to accelerate the just transition to safe renewable energy and wider public benefits around the world, including examples from Latin America, Africa and The Pacific.
Tax Their Billions actions will be taking place as follows, photos will be available for publishing here:
- 10th November: Munich
- 13th November: Rio de Janeiro
- 14th November: Paris, London, Munich, Nürnberg, Göttingen
- 15th November: Paris
Media contacts:
- Mariana Abdalla, [email protected] – at COP29
- Mark Raven, [email protected] +447841474125 – Tax Their Billions
- Rachel Brabbins, [email protected] – G20 and Energy of the People