Activists have gathered at the global COP18 climate event in Doha, Qatar to press negotiators to put aside money from a ‘Robin Hood tax” to boost the climate change fund. Evoking the legend of England’s Robin Hood, who either stole from or persuaded the rich to help the poor depending on which story one believes, a group of youth and environmental activists from around the globe propose that a tiny tax on financial transactions could be used to help the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change.
Robin Hood lookalikes from Sweden, Norway, Australia, Kenya and Taiwan displayed signs and banners at the COP18 meeting in Doha which read: “Robin Hood Tax, a global solution,” according to the organizer’s press release.
Whilst it might seem like an idealist’s dream, it turns out that several European countries have agreed to implement a Financial Transactions Tax (FIT), while France has already raised an annual sum of €37 billion through its own version implemented earlier previously.
How the new tax will be implemented or distributed is still up for discussion, although climate and youth activists are calling for countries to apportion one quarter of a 0.05% tax to the global climate change fund, in order to help the most needy countries cope with pending challenges.
““Implementing this tax can help to deal with some of the global economic problems we have seen in the last years but can also be used for good causes like the fight against climate change,” said Oxfam International’s Tim Gore.
In the last couple of weeks, a variety of disturbing reports have been published about escalating climate change and what we can expect as a result.
The World Bank claims that global temperatures could rise by four or more degrees, which is double the amount deemed safe. And there is increasing evidence that sea levels are rising a lot faster than previously thought.
COP18 host Qatar is among the nations that stand to lose a lot of land to rising sea levels.
About the Robin Hood tax, Laurence Watson, a member of UK Youth Climate Coalition, took part in the demonstration said that he and other representatives are calling for a global solution.
“We’re pleased to see countries implementing this in Europe and we would like to see it spread around the world,” he said. “This is a very easy way to kick-start climate change funding.”
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
