All across the globe, soaring levels of inequality are undermining democracy, fuelling the rise of authoritarianism and threatening all categories of human rights. An utterly unsustainable economic model is simultaneously bursting through planetary boundaries, bringing us to the precipice of ecosystemic collapse.
In this context, renewed urgency is being given to alternative economic approaches. Approaches once considered radical or unpragmatic are, increasingly, being afforded serious consideration.
Academics, activists and policymakers are asking “what if economic decisions were centred on people and the planet instead of the profits of an elite few?” The human rights economy is an approach that places human rights at the core of economic policymaking. It embraces transformative economic models emanating from the climate justice, gender equality, and decolonization movements.
International human rights law provides a framework for ensuring global resources are used equitably while safeguarding the environment. It takes as its starting point the fact that governments are legally obligated to allocate the maximum available resources—individually and through international cooperation—to fulfil human rights. This includes economic, social, and cultural rights such as access to healthcare, education, social security, housing, food, clean water, and a sustainable environment.
For decades governments have failed to align economic policies with these obligations. Despite unprecedented global wealth, billions still struggle while environmental devastation worsens.
Working together with Amnesty International, the Center for Economic and Social Rights, the Financial Transparency Coalition, the Global Initiative on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, the Tax Justice Network has produced a working paper—available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic—outlining how governments can use human rights as benchmarks for economic policies. This includes ensuring adequate public revenues to fund universal social services, social security systems, and a just transition to sustainable energy.
The challenges to implementing this agenda are huge. Governments operate within a global economic system that often restricts their ability to enact transformative change. A true human rights economy requires restructuring international financial systems, including tax policies, debt frameworks, and the governance of financial institutions, to align with human rights principles. It also means moving beyond outdated measures like GDP growth and adopting metrics that reflect human well-being and environmental sustainability.
As the world enters a critical phase of international negotiations, with talks getting underway on both the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation and, in parallel, the future financing of sustainable development, we hope this resource can serve as a useful guide to what an economic model anchored in human rights would look like.