What if the world tackled inequality with the same kind of scientific firepower it has brought to the climate crisis?
That is the thinking behind a proposal gaining support from world leaders and experts to establish a new ‘International Panel on Inequality’, an independent body that would bring together evidence on the causes and consequences of widening disparities and help governments understand what can be done about them.
The initiative was in the spotlight in New York on 23 September, at an event on the margins of the UN General Assembly’s high-level week, convened by Brazil, Norway, South Africa and Spain.
In remarks delivered by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, UN Secretary-General António Guterres cast the challenge in stark terms, warning of deepening concentrations of wealth and power and the risks they pose to societies and the international system.
“Sustainable Development Goal 10 calls on us to reduce inequality within and among nations. And yet we see breathtaking levels of income and wealth inequality, with the richest 10 per cent of the world’s population now owning 75 per cent of all wealth,” Mr. Guterres said.
by UN News – Could a new global panel defuse inequality’s ‘ticking time bomb’?
