Rich individuals in all countries must pay more to tackle the climate crisis, whether through taxes or charges on consumption, one of the architects of the Paris agreement has said.

There is a growing consensus on the need for some kind of global wealth tax, with Brazil, which will host the Cop climate summit next year, an enthusiastic supporter.

Meanwhile, poor countries are struggling to raise the estimated $1tn (£785bn) a year of external finance needed to help them cut emissions and cope with the impacts of the climate crisis.

Another proposal is for a frequent flyer levy, as the richest people tend to take far more flights – in any year about half of the people in the UK do not fly, for instance. Laurence Tubiana, the chief executive of the European Climate Foundation, said a levy could be targeted at business class and first class seats.

  • Optional
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    86 months ago

    Almost like some kind of . . . global conspiracy by astoundingly wealthy people to destroy the planet for money and make everyone else live in the polluted extinction event.

    Obviously that’s just crazy talk.

    • @SlopppyEngineer
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      36 months ago

      That’s not a conspiracy. It’s how things went down in the past. A civilization that used corn as a currency will insist on growing more corn even if weather patterns change, soils get depleted and long term the economy perishes. Value for the shareholders high priests must be maintained. The market gods are fickle.