{"id":449426,"date":"2026-06-09T05:19:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=449426"},"modified":"2026-06-09T05:20:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:20:35","slug":"claim-large-scale-wealth-redistribution-is-required-to-tackle-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=449426","title":{"rendered":"Claim: Large Scale Wealth Redistribution is Required to Tackle Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 the share of global wealth held by the poorest \u2026 would rise from just 2 percent today to 30 percent, while the proportion held by billionaires would fall \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Could tackling climate change and levelling inequality go hand in hand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world can raise income, reduce inequality and limit global warming, according to an ambitious roadmap presented this week by economists in France. Making the case for a radical transformation of economies and lifestyles, they call on rich countries to slow growth, phase out fossil fuels and tax the wealthiest to help poorer countries fund development and mitigate the effects of climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issued on: 06\/06\/2026 \u2013 06:56
By: RFI<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

Published on Thursday by the World Inequality Lab, the Global Justice Report<\/a> presents a vision of a fairer world built within the planet\u2019s limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the plan, the share of global wealth held by the poorest half of the world\u2019s population would rise from just 2 percent today to 30 percent, while the proportion held by billionaires would fall dramatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report also calls for a reduction in working hours in wealthier regions, alongside efforts to equalise incomes both within and between countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its authors, this would mean near-zero per capita growth in richer economies, while poorer regions would grow faster to close the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taxing the rich<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To finance the transition, the economists propose the creation of a \u201cglobal justice fund\u201d, initially funded through steep taxes on the wealthiest individuals \u2013 up to 20 percent annually on billionaires\u2019 fortunes and income tax rates of up to 90 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/international\/20260606-could-tackling-climate-change-and-levelling-inequality-go-hand-in-hand<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The full report is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Socialists like the global justice project and world inequality council have no idea how money works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking money off billionaires wouldn\u2019t redistribute wealth, it would destroy the wealth. Money only has value because billionaires hold some of it, and use that money to create the goods and services which give money its value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poor people and countries are not poor because of circumstances, they are poor because of the bad choices they make. Giving broken nations money without fixing the problems which caused those nations to fail doesn\u2019t lift their income, it just destroys the value of that money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of example of nations which started making better choices and thrived, like the Asian tiger economies Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, at least until the Chinese started throwing their weight around. There are nations which started making poor choices and fell or are busy falling, such as Australia, New Zealand, Britain and Europe. And there are nations which are caught in the borderlands between prosperity and ruin, depending on which direction they choose next. None of this has anything to do with wealth redistribution between nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The core idea\u2014”just take money from billionaires”\u2014oversimplifies how wealth, capital, incentives, and economic dynamics actually function. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a common framing in reports like the one from the World Inequality Lab, but real-world evidence shows significant practical problems with aggressive annual wealth taxes (e.g., 20% on billionaires) or 90% top marginal income rates as primary tools for funding massive global redistribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billionaire net worth is mostly illiquid capital<\/strong>\u2014ownership stakes in companies (stocks, equity in startups\/tech\/firms), not stacks of cash. This wealth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Represents past value creation (innovation, scaling businesses that employ millions and serve billions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gets reinvested into productive assets: R&D, factories, infrastructure, employee compensation via equity, new ventures. High savings\/investment rates at the top channel resources into capital formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fluctuates with markets; taxing unrealized gains or annual wealth can force asset sales, disrupt operations, or reduce future investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confiscating or heavily taxing this doesn’t magically create equivalent sustainable income\/wealth for others without affecting the underlying productive capacity. Historical attempts at very high rates often led to avoidance, evasion, capital flight, and lower reported income bases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A “Global Justice Fund”<\/strong> at >10% of world GDP would be enormous (~$10+ trillion\/year today). Funding it primarily via wealth\/income taxes on the rich assumes static wealth creation, minimal evasion, perfect global coordination (unlikely amid US-China tensions, etc.), and effective spending in recipient countries (governance quality varies widely; aid effectiveness has mixed track records).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The core idea\u2014”just take money from billionaires”\u2014oversimplifies how wealth, capital, incentives, and economic dynamics actually function. It’s a common framing in reports like the one from the World Inequality Lab, but real-world evidence shows significant practical problems with aggressive annual wealth taxes (e.g., 20% on billionaires) or 90% top marginal income rates as primary tools for funding massive global redistribution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":449435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691843570,691818056,691819743,691843571,691818087,691843573,691823520,691843572],"class_list":["post-449426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-global-justice-fund","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-propaganda","tag-global-justice-project","tag-global-warming","tag-radical-transformation","tag-socialists","tag-tax-the-wealthiest","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0-Taking-money-off-billionaires-Socialists-have-no-idea-how-money-works.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1SUO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":450234,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=450234","url_meta":{"origin":449426,"position":0},"title":"Piketty\u2019s Eco-Marxist Utopia: Why Degrowth and Global Redistribution Will Trap the Poor in Poverty","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/14\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy ... its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.\" -- Sir Winston Churchill","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate crisis\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate crisis","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-crisis"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0-Copilot-Pikettys-Eco-Marxist-Utopia-Why-Degrowth-and-Global-Redistribution-Will-Trap-the-Poor-in-Poverty.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0-Copilot-Pikettys-Eco-Marxist-Utopia-Why-Degrowth-and-Global-Redistribution-Will-Trap-the-Poor-in-Poverty.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0-Copilot-Pikettys-Eco-Marxist-Utopia-Why-Degrowth-and-Global-Redistribution-Will-Trap-the-Poor-in-Poverty.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0-Copilot-Pikettys-Eco-Marxist-Utopia-Why-Degrowth-and-Global-Redistribution-Will-Trap-the-Poor-in-Poverty.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":241053,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=241053","url_meta":{"origin":449426,"position":1},"title":"Barry Brill: For Billionaires, Climate Lobbying is Hot","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/22\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"What would happen if all this billionaire philanthropy was to be withdrawn from politicians, bureaucrats, environmental organisations, newspapers, broadcasters, etc? 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