Global Solidarity Levies: A Call for Country Participation

The document argues that current development and climate finance is insufficient to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, noting a $4 trillion annual investment gap for SDG implementation in developing countries. It promotes the work of the Global Solidarity Levy Task Force (GSLTF), which has proposed 16 levy options targeting undertaxed sectors responsible for carbon emissions, including aviation, fossil fuels, and financial transactions. The GSLTF estimates that these levies could potentially generate over $500 billion in annual revenue, with specific examples such as a 0.1% levy on trading stocks and bonds potentially raising $418 billion. The brief calls for developing countries to engage in the design and assessment of these levies to ensure equitable access to funds, as the recovery of these taxes generally occurs through individual national tax systems, leaving the allocation of grants to developing countries to the discretion of developed nations.

• There is a massive shortfall in funding for sustainable development, with UNCTAD estimating an annual need of between $6.9 trillion and $7.6 trillion to achieve the SDGs, while the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs identifies a $4 trillion annual investment gap specifically for developing countries.
• The Global Solidarity Levy Task Force (GSLTF), co-chaired by Barbados, France, and Kenya, has proposed 16 tax options targeting sectors that drive carbon emissions, such as shipping, aviation, cryptocurrencies, plastic polymers, and high-net-worth individuals.
• The GSLTF projects significant revenue potential from specific levies: a 0.1% tax on trading stocks and bonds could raise $418 billion annually, a $5 per tonne of CO2 levy on fossil fuel extraction could raise $210 billion, and a global carbon price on aviation and international shipping could generate $200 billion.
• In an optimistic scenario, the total annual revenue from all proposed solidarity levies could exceed $500 billion.
• Most proposed taxes would be recovered through a country's own tax system, meaning the levying country benefits directly; the maritime tax is a notable exception, as it would be collected by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for a net-zero fund.
• The GSLTF has formed a 'coalition of the willing' consisting of Antigua and Barbuda, Colombia, Denmark, Djibouti, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Spain, and Zambia.
• The GSLTF aims to integrate its proposals into the 'Baku to Belém Roadmap to $1.3 trillion', which seeks to scale up financial flows to developing countries to at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2025). Global Solidarity Levies: A Call for Country Participation. https://saiia.org.za/research/global-solidarity-levies-a-call-for-country-participation/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Global Solidarity Levies: A Call for Country Participation. 2025. https://saiia.org.za/research/global-solidarity-levies-a-call-for-country-participation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Global Solidarity Levies: A Call for Country Participation |date=11 June 2025 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/global-solidarity-levies-a-call-for-country-participation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2025global, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Global Solidarity Levies: A Call for Country Participation}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/global-solidarity-levies-a-call-for-country-participation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }