Olivier de Schutter: A 2% tax on billionaires would provide social protection for 820 million people in low-income countries'

"Olivier de Schutter, 57, thinks it possible for the over 800 million people who, according to the United Nations, live on less than $2.15 a day to improve their living conditions. According to the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, it would require the political will to tax billionaires and apply other measures, such as levies on aviation, maritime transportation and financial transactions."

"The priority is clearly to allow low-income countries to finance social protection, because they simply do not have enough fiscal leeway to provide their population with economic security against unemployment, disability, sickness, pension payments and so on. It would cost about $308 billion per year to allow the 26 poorest countries on Earth to provide their population with social protection, about twice the level of official development assistance in the year 2019."

More than 800 million people live on less than $2.15 a day and can improve living conditions with sufficient political will to mobilize existing wealth. Proposed measures include taxing billionaires and levies on aviation, maritime transportation, and financial transactions to generate necessary funds. Priority should be enabling low-income countries to finance social protection to provide economic security against unemployment, disability, sickness, and pensions. Providing social protection in the 26 poorest countries would cost about $308 billion per year, roughly twice 2019 official development assistance, unaffordable for those countries alone but affordable for the international community. Reductions in development aid risk harming millions, and innovative financing mechanisms exist but require political commitment.

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