UN pushing a ‘global tax treaty’! Fossil gas companies could have to pay for ‘climate damage’ beneath one other proposed UN tax

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/01/fossil-fuel-firms-may-have-to-pay-for-climate-damage-under-proposed-un-tax

Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation could also force ultra-rich to pay global wealth tax

By Fiona Harvey and Heather Stewart

Excerpt:

Fossil fuel companies could be forced to pay some of the price of their damage to the climate, and the ultra-rich subjected to a global wealth tax, if new tax rules are agreed under the UN.

Negotiations on a planned global tax treaty will resume at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, with dozens of countries supporting stronger rules that would make polluters pay for the impact of their activities.

But developing countries are worried the current draft of the proposals is too weak, and want more robust backing from the rich world. Clear proposals on taxing the profits of fossil fuel companies have been watered down in their language, and proposals for a global asset registry that would help in taxing wealthy individuals have been removed from the text.

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If it can be made to work, the treaty could be a big step forward in making fossil fuel producers pay for the damage they cause, and in ensuring the richest contribute. Inequality rates have soared in recent years, with the wealthiest 0.001% of the population – roughly 56,000 people – holding three times more wealth than the poorer 50%, and the disparity is growing.

Sergio Chaparo Hernandez, of the Tax Justice Network (TJN), said, “The next round of talks in New York will be a real test: can member states craft international tax rules that are fit for the age of climate catastrophe?”