“Instead of tackling this injustice, the Chancellor chooses to balance the books on the backs of ordinary people rather than taxing people like us who can afford it.”
Raise taxes on big polluters and the super-rich to tackle the climate crisis, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been told by a new coalition of leading charities and campaigners.
Ahead of the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, 19 organisations have written an open letter to the Chancellor calling for a fairer tax system to address ‘rampant’ inequality and to redirect wealth to fund climate action.
There is ‘no lack of money’ to tackle the cost of living and climate crisis, only a government that requires ‘common sense’ to make those responsible for the most carbon emissions pay more, the coalition has argued.
Greenpeace, Christian Aid, Patriotic Millionaires, Global Justice Now, Common Wealth and Friends of the Earth are among the 19 signatures which have highlighted that an estimated £22 billion could be raised by a 1-2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million.
And it seems the public agree, as a recent poll by Survation showed 82% of people in Great Britain supported a wealth tax on the richest 1% to fund climate change action.
It comes as The Guardian’s latest investigation has revealed how the ‘polluter elite’ richest 1% account for more carbon emissions that a whopping 66% of the poorest, highlighting extreme inequality when it comes to responsibility for climate damage.
Carbon emissions from the luxurious lifestyles of the super-rich mean only 12 of the richest people produce more emissions than two million homes a year, while Oxfam has said a 60% tax on the incomes of the wealthiest 1% would cut the equivalent of the 2019 carbon emission of the UK.
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