The international tax justice movement has been recognised in a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize from three Norwegian politicians. The nomination is shared by the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ) and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
As the nomination letter says, “The outstanding work of the ICIJ to expose illicit flows, and the mammoth achievement of the GATJ to build national and international pressure for accountability and fair taxation — warrants attention, recognition and support.”
The Tax Justice Network was formally established in 2003, and began to build a global network of experts and civil society organisations. The Global Alliance for Tax Justice was spun out of the Tax Justice Network in 2013 as the umbrella body for mass mobilisation organisations working on tax justice around the world. The two organisations continue to collaborate closely, including on the annual State of Tax Justice report which last November revealed the world is losing over $427 billion in tax to tax havens every year – the equivalent of one nurse’s yearly salary lost every second.
The ICIJ, while it includes many journalists who have passed through the Tax Justice Network’s training programme, operates entirely independently but has made important contributions to the same aim, through their work on a series of major leaks of financial documents in recent years, exposing the prevalence of tax abuse by wealthy individuals and major companies.
Tax Justice Network chief executive Alex Cobham said:
“This is a fantastic recognition for the work of the tax justice movement. The brave journalism of the ICIJ has exposed the international failure to combat tax abuse, while GATJ has coordinated a powerful, worldwide movement to hold politicians’ feet to the fire and demand progress.
“Later this month, the UN FACTI Panel will deliver its final report with critical recommendations for the global tax and financial architecture. Most of these were politically unthinkable until the tax justice movement put them on the table. The global pandemic has exposed glaring inequalities and shortfalls in revenues to fund both public health systems and economic protection. The UN and its leading member states should ensure that the panel’s recommendations – the fruits of the organisations now deservingly nominated for the Nobel – are delivered with all urgency.”
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Contact the press team: [email protected] or +44 (0)7562 403078
Notes to editor
- Read more about the State of Tax Justice 2020 here.
- Read GATJ’s statement on the nomination here.
- Read ICIJ’s statement on the nomination here.
About the Tax Justice Network
The Tax Justice Network believes our tax and financial systems are our most powerful tools for creating a just society that gives equal weight to the needs of everyone. But under pressure from corporate giants and the super-rich, our governments have programmed these systems to prioritise the wealthiest over everybody else, wiring financial secrecy and tax havens into the core of our global economy. This fuels inequality, fosters corruption and undermines democracy. We work to repair these injustices by inspiring and equipping people and governments to reprogramme their tax and financial systems.