Author: flo2cash - Page 7 - Oxfam Aotearoa

The large protests and demonstrations expected to take place around the G20 summit in Germany are a reaction to the huge economic and social inequalities afflicting the world, warned Oxfam, while urging leaders to agree on a comprehensive plan to tackle inequality.

“The G20 leaders will offer more warm words about the need to tackle inequality. But year after year they’ve failed to act. Just eight men now own as much wealth as half the world. Popular frustration with our broken economic system has been simmering for a long time, and it’s dangerously close to boiling over,” said Steve Price-Thomas, Oxfam International’s Director for Advocacy and Campaigns.

“A country shouldn’t measure its economic health simply by how many jobs are created, without looking at the opportunities that these jobs really offer. We now see waged workers living below the poverty line while the super-rich stash their wealth in tax havens.This is money that should be spent on quality healthcare and education,” said Price-Thomas.

The G20 appears set to endorse the OECD’s “blacklist” of tax havens, which features just a single country. Oxfam urges the G20 to reject it and insisit the OECD start over.

Will the G20 defend the Paris Agreement and commit to renewable energy?

With the G20 representing around 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, thousands are taking to the streets of Hamburg to demand action on climate change.

“Climate change is real and it’s happening right now. In the aftermath of President Trump’s decision to quit the Paris Agreement, it’s up to the rest of the G20 countries to honor and implement the deal,” said Price-Thomas.

“Fossil fuels are not the future. While government subsidies for oil and coal only make the rich richer, the clean energy boom is creating opportunities for everyone. We’ve seen some of the poorest countries in the world commit to 100 percent clean and renewable energy by 2050; the G20 should follow their lead.”

Will leaders confront the unprecedented threat of four simultaneous famines?

The jaw-dropping disparity between the world’s richest and poorest is always on display at major summits like these. This year it’s even more appalling given the deadly hunger crises currently plaguing South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria and Somalia. Oxfam is calling on the G20 to do their part in funding the UN’s $6.3 billion appeal. Currently, the only countries attending the summit that have paid their fair share are the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands.

“We can’t stress this enough: political failure has led to this crisis, and political leadership is needed to resolve it,” said Price-Thomas. “The relief from emergency aid will be short-lived if the G20 fails to push for peaceful solutions to the violence and conflicts that have caused so much death and suffering.”

Can the “Compact with Africa” really deliver for the continent’s poorest?

Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has been active in promoting the “Compact with Africa” as a way for G20 to boost private investment in African countries to help reduce poverty. However, Oxfam remains cautious about the initiative’s focus on government and business elites, seemingly at the expense of people in poverty.

“Private investment doesn’t automatically help local communities or lead to sustainable growth,” said Price-Thomas. “The G20 should acknowledge that public finance is still sorely needed to help these countries meet the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The New Zealand Government has a huge opportunity to demonstrate leadership on the global stage in reforming the world’s rigged and unjust global tax system, Oxfam said today.

“The Paradise Papers have laid bare the extent to which multinationals and extremely wealthy individuals continue to exploit a broken global system that allows them to avoid paying their fair share of tax.” said Rachael Le Mesurier, Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand.

“It’s time for the world’s political leaders to put the interests of the public – who are paying their fair share of taxes – over those of corporates and the super-rich and put a stop to tax scandals like this, once and for all,” she said.

“Tax avoidance fuels poverty and inequality everywhere. When the super-rich and corporations such as Apple and Nike avoid taxes, ordinary people – and particularly the poorest – pay the price as governments, especially in developing nations, increase their taxes or cut funding for vital public services.

“Tax cheats are robbing governments in the poorest countries of much-needed funding for clean water, education and healthcare. Corporate tax avoidance alone costs poor countries at least $100 billion every year – enough money to provide an education for 124 million children and prevent the deaths of at least six million children.

“When it comes to tax it is still one rule for the super-rich and another for everyone else,” said Le Mesurier. “This is unacceptable in a system that funnels tax revenue away from where it is needed most in developing nations – where many of these multi-nationals earn revenue.”

Oxfam is calling on the New Zealand Government to be part of a global solution for greater tax transparency and close the loopholes that allow companies and the super-rich to avoid tax.

Le Mesurier said Oxfam welcomes Labour’s commitment to establish a Tax Working Group and the opportunity it provides New Zealand to demonstrate leadership on a global scale in reforming the world’s broken tax system. Oxfam urges that the terms of reference for the group include NZ joining the global momentum for greater tax transparency.

“New Zealand has a real opportunity here to work with other political leaders and shut down tax havens by establishing a global tax haven blacklist; end tax secrecy so that it’s clear if corporations and the super-rich pay their fair share of tax; and kick start a new round of tax reforms that rebuild the tax system in the interests of the majority and not the few.

“Tax transparency is an essential step in fighting global tax avoidance. We need multinationals to publish their profits, taxes and assets for every country in which they operate. Making this information public would mean we don’t have to rely on leaks and scandals to find out if companies are paying their fair share.

“It’s time for global corporations to clean up their act. Until real action is taken, the super-wealthy and big companies will continue to shirk paying their fair share of taxes – and ordinary people and the world’s poorest pay the price.

Join Oxfam’s movement to End the Era of Tax Havens.

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Contact

For more information, or to organise an interview, contact Lucy Grogan, Media and Communications Manager at Oxfam New Zealand on 021 88 11 62 or (09) 355 7413