G20 Commitments to Tax and Development: A Progress Report Card
November 14, 2011
By David McNair
David McNair is senior economic justice adviser at Christian Aid who formerly worked for British Red Cross. He holds a PhD in social geography from the Queen’s University of Belfast.
This article is cross-posted at Triplecrisis.com. Click on ‘Continue Reading’ to download ChristianAid’s G20 Scorecard on taxes and development.
Back in September I was sitting in the salubrious office of an official from one of International Financial Institutions – when he slouched back in his chair, sighed and said ‘I can’t even bear to read those G20 communiqués – they are so vacuous.’ That evening, I found myself at a dinner hosted by DC law firm Jones Day where former Mexican President Zedillo branded the G20 ‘a disappointment.’
But last week Christian Aid welcomed the G20?s bold pronouncements on tax havens, financial transparency and development. President Sarkozy went as far as to say that havens that didn’t comply would be excluded from the international community. A whole programme of work on tax and development was agreed.