GI-ESCR submitted report to the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change

GI-ESCR, in collaboration with Tax Justice Network, submitted a report to the first call for inputs to the first UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change. In his call, the Special Rapporteur asked civil society to contribute to his report focusing on the human rights impact of loss and damage, specifically in the context of mitigation and adaptation efforts.

In our submission, we focus on the impact of fiscal policies on loss and damage and the human rights impact that badly designed fiscal policies can have on people, especially those already living in vulnerable situations, such as women and girls. In the center of the submission are tax havens, illicit financial flows and tax evasion and avoidance. We use the Polluter Pays Principle - which emphasises that those mostly responsible for climate change should pay up for the loss and damage caused by it - to highlight the responsibility of developed and industrialised countries to tackle tax practices that violate human rights law and standards as part of loss and damage.