Azerbaijan Environmentalists call for tax on super-rich to finance climate change

Environmentalists are pushing for a tax on the super-rich to finance climate aid for poorer countries and combat the climate crisis.

Environmentalists are calling for a minimum tax on the super-rich to provide more climate aid for poorer countries. The organization 350.org criticizes the fact that billionaires often pay hardly any taxes, but exacerbate the climate crisis through their lifestyle and investments. "Taxing socially and ecologically destructive wealth should be a matter of course," the organization said in Baku.

The environmental organization emphasizes that the super-rich cause considerably more climate-damaging emissions with private jets and yachts than the average citizen. Oil and gas companies should also be taxed more heavily in order to provide billions or even trillions for the fight against global warming and to support developing countries. International agreements, for example at G20 or UN level, are necessary for this.

At the conference in Baku, which lasts two weeks and has 70,000 participants, developing countries are calling on industrialized nations to provide at least 1,300 billion US dollars annually for climate financing - 13 times the current amount.

The EU and the German government recognize the need for more funds, but demand that countries such as China and the Gulf States also contribute to the financing. According to a 30-year-old UN definition, these are considered developing countries and therefore recipients of climate aid.

SDA