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G20: Cameron, you Cannes do it!

Thank you for emailing David Cameron ahead of the G20 summit, asking him to support a Robin Hood Tax.

On Wednesday 2nd November, Robin Hood Tax supporters descended on the Houses of Parliament to send off David Cameron to the G20, backed by the 80,000 people who had emailed the Prime Minister asking him to support a Financial Transaction Tax in Cannes. [Robin Hood Tax campaign]

Your pressure helped to build support for a tiny tax on financial transactions (FTT), which was put forward at the G20 in Cannes by Microsoft founder Bill Gates as a feasible and desirable option for finding new sources of finance.

Real progress was made on getting agreement. Countries that were previously unsupportive or wavering in support came out in favour of an FTT, and the tax was explicitly mentioned in the G20 communiqué, a first for the G20. Most importantly, the money raised was linked to tackling poverty and climate change: not a foregone conclusion when so many G20 members are experiencing large deficits and financial problems at home.

Major support from the Catholic Church

Meanwhile, just before the G20 Summit, the campaign received some major backing from the Catholic Church, as the Pontifical Council also called for the adoption of a tax on financial transactions (FTT).

The Council urged for a restoration of spiritual and ethical dimensions to the economy, and argued that the FTT “would be very useful in promoting global development and sustainability according to the principles of social justice and solidarity”.

A long way to go

But despite encouraging signs and a fair amount of progress, there’s still a long way to go. The G20 governments didn’t manage to agree any concrete steps to put the tax into practice. The UK government supports the idea in theory but only if it is globally adopted, and is acting as a stumbling block to progress within Europe, rather than taking a lead. Of course a global tax would be best, but leadership is needed now.

The Robin Hood Campaign calls for a very small tax on transactions. But while the cost per transaction would be tiny, the tax would help fill the huge financial shortfall in the fight on urgent issues such as climate change and poverty.

Taking the talk to Durban

You’ve helped us achieve so much already, and we’ll be keeping up the pressure throughout the next year. The next pressure point is at climate discussions in Durban this December. Find out more about how you can get involved with our climate justice campaign here .