144 organisations representing more than 200 million citizens urge G20 leaders to listen to the people, not the banks

International organisations backing the letter include Action Aid, Education International, Oxfam, WWF International and the International Union of Food workers.

Campaign champions include, for instance, Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), who said: “tens of millions of people around the world are suffering from a global crisis they didn’t cause. And the rich bankers, who certainly did, aren’t paying their fair share!”

In the last few weeks, the campaign for an FTT has been boosted by supportive research from the International Monetary Fund, the launch at the UN Millennium Development Goals summit of a positive expert report to the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development (which brings together 60 national governments), as well as active consideration by the European Union and the High Level Advisory Group of the UN Secretary General on Climate Change Financing (AGF).

Below, pls find the text of the letter and the list of signatories as of November 1, 2010. To sign on to this letter, send the name of the organization and country in which it is based by 5PM Washington DC time on November 3^rd to Amy Gray: amy@campaignforeducation.org

G-20: Take Action on Financial Transaction Taxes

International Civil Society Statement to the G-20 Leaders Summit in Seoul

We, the undersigned civil society organizations from 39 countries, urge G-20 leaders to make concrete progress towards the introduction of an internationally coordinated financial transactions tax (FTT) at the upcoming summit in Seoul.

Our organizations have long advocated that such taxes are a practical way to generate revenues needed to fill domestic and international financing gaps, discourage the type of short-term financial speculation that has little social value but poses high risks to the economy and serve as a desperately-needed and sustainable source of financing for health and development. In recent months, the case for an FTT has been strengthened with new inputs from sometimes unexpected sources. Several developments have contributed to building a solid foundation for going beyond discussion of options to implementation:

IMF research commissioned by the G-20 recognizes technical feasibility of FTTs

At the 2009 Summit in Pittsburgh, the G-20 charged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with preparing a report on various financial sector taxation options. While the IMF report delivered in June 2010 favored an alternative approach (devoting only 3 of its 74 pages to FTTs), it did confirm the administrative feasibility of this option.¹ A follow-up IMF technical paper has pointed out that most G20 countries have already implemented some form of transaction tax, and offered useful information on how to design the taxes to make them most effective. The paper also confirmed that such taxes can generate substantial revenues.²

A report by the ‘Leading Group on Innovative Financing’ endorses one form of FTT

In July 2010, a group of international finance experts confirmed the feasibility of taxing financial transactions, with a view to financing international commitments for health and development made to developing countries. The experts had been commissioned to produce a feasibility study for a group of 12 governments -- Germany, UK, Japan, France, Belgium, Korea, Norway, Senegal, Brazil, Spain, Austria and Chile. These countries are part of the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development, comprised of 60 nations (including 75% of G20 member states). In their report, the experts point to foreign exchange transactions between banks as the easiest option for collecting a solidarity tax. They calculated that an extremely small tax of only 0.005% on such transactions would generate 33 billion USD per year.³

European Union and UN High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing consider FTT

Meanwhile, the European Commission is considering the possibility of introducing an FTT at European level, following the support shown by the European Parliament earlier this year. A European Commission report notes that, depending on the rate and coverage, an FTT could potentially generate more than $1 trillion per year.⁴ The FTT is also being addressed by a workstream of the High Level Advisory Group of the UN Secretary General on Climate Change Financing (AGF). The Group, made up of heads of state, high-level officials from ministries and central banks, and other finance experts, is expected to release a report on climate finance options in late October 2010.

The need for FTTs has grown more urgent

FTTs are one of the few available options that could generate the enormous financial resources required to pay for the continuing costs of the global financial and economic crisis, including reducing the unacceptably high rate of job loss, and to achieve key development, health, education and climate change objectives in developing countries. Several hundred billion dollars worth of untapped revenue could potentially be harnessed. This new financing is required in addition to official development assistance in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Alternative financial sector taxes as proposed by the IMF would fall far short of the volume required. At the same time, the potential benefit of FTTs to enhance market stability is of equal interest as the world has become more aware of the dangers posed by automated high-frequency trading that increasingly predominates in financial markets. Even extremely low transactions tax rates would reduce the incentive for such speculative activities.

At the recent UN Summit on Millennium Development Goals, French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a very welcome vow to press for an international agreement on FTTs during his term as G-20 chair in 2011. There is, however, no reason to delay. We call for G-20 action on this critical issue to begin in Seoul.

Signatories:

International/Regional:

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC)

European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)

Public Services International (PSI)

WWF International

Education International (EI)

Global Campaign for Education (GCE)

Feminist Task Force (GCAP)

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Association (IUF)

Tax Justice Network (TJN)

ActionAid International (AAI)

Oxfam

Health Poverty Action

Greenpeace

Emmaus International

PLUS, Coalition Internationale Sida

Third World Network (TWN)

Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)

Federación Internacional Fe y Alegría

European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)

Global Union Federation Building and Wood Workers International (BWI).

Friends of the Earth International

The African Campaign for Education for All (ANCEFA), Senegal, for African continent

National:

AFL-CIO, US

WEED - Weltwirtschaft, Ökologie & Entwicklung, Germany

Make Poverty History, Canada

Institute for Policy Studies, Global Economy Project, US

Dutch Platform on Sustainable and Solidarity Economy, the Netherlands

Oikos Foundation (Dutch member, Tax Justice Network), the Netherlands

RESULTS, Canada

World Development Movement, UK

Both ENDS, the Netherlands

The National Union of Public and General Employees, Canada

War on Want, UK

CCFD-Terre Solidaire, Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development, France

Norwegian Church Aid, Norway

CRBM, Italy

Service Employees International Union (SEIU), US

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Australia

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, New Zealand

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance, UK

African Initiatives, UK

Article 12 in Scotland, UK

University and College Union (UCU), UK

Grassroots International, US

Friends of the Earth, US

Bond, UK

Treatment Action Group (TAG), US

General Secretary National Union of Teachers. UK

United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society, US

Share The World’s Resources (STWR), UK

Public Citizen, US

Italian General Confederation of Labour, Italy

Ecologistas en Acción, Spain

Health GAP (Global Access Project), US

KAIROS Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, Canada

Victoria AIDS Resource & Community Service Society, Canada

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Canada

Nationwide Group Staff Union, UK

Friends of the Earth, Sierra Leone

Africa Europe Faith Justice Network, UK

TB Alert, UK

UNI-Korea Liaison Council, South Korea

Niger Delta Women's movement for Peace and Development (NDWPD), Nigeria

INDIAN SOCIAL ACTION FORUM - INSAF, India

UNISON, UK

NASUWT, UK

The Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, UK

Housing Justice, UK

Worldview The Gambia

Action for Southern Africa ACTSA, UK

CS de Comisiones Obreras (CS CCOO), Spain

Lokoj Institute, Bangladesh

Instituto del Tercer Mundo, Uruguay

Jubilee, Australia

IBON, Philippines

Trades Union Congress (TUC), UK

KRuHA-People's Coalition for the Right to Water, Indonesia

The National Union of Journalists, UK

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Canada

Halifax Initiative, Canada

ABVV/FGTB, Belgium

Alliance Sud--the Swiss Coalition of Development Organisations, Switzerland

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, US

Norwegian Forum for Environment and Development, Norway

Aktionsbündnis gegen AIDS, Germany

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance, UK

The Stop AIDS Alliance, Belgium

Spire, the Development Fund's Youth, Norway

Robin Hood Tax Campaign, UK

Stamp out Poverty, UK

ATTAC, France

Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), England and Wales

International HIV/AIDS Alliance, UK

CNCD-11.11.11, Belgium

World Federalist Movement, Canada

AITEC / IPAM, France

RESULTS, UK

Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), Indonesia

Global Health Advocates (Avocats pour la Santé dans le monde), France

ATTAC, Denmark

Lunaria, Italy

ATTAC Québec, Canada

Red Mexicana de Acción frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC), Mexico

Alianza Mexicana por la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos (AMAP), Mexico

Bia´lii, Asesoría e Investigación, A.C, México

The Christian Socialist Movement (CSM), UK

Kepa, Service Centre for Development Cooperation, Finland

Fundación Primero de Mayo (First of May Foundation), Spain

FOCO -Foro Ciudadano de Participación por la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos, Argentina

Fair, Italy

Grupo Tacuba, A. C., Mexico

Consejo de Investigaciones e Información en Desarrollo CIID, Guatemala

Comisión Independiente de Derechos Humanos de Morelos, Mexico

Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, Mexico

Pacto por la Soberania Alimentaria Energetica, los derechos de losTrabajadores y las Garantas Constitucionales en Morelos, Mexico

ATTAC, Spain

Movimiento Rural Cristiano de AC, Spain

Asociación de Defensa de la Vida, ADEVI, Perú

Veterinarians Without Borders (VSF), Spain

MUNDUBAT, Spain

Fiare Banca Ética de Sabadell, Spain

CNPL, Brazil

ATTAC, Norway

Otros Mundos AC - Amigos de le Tierra (Friends of the Earth), México

German Campaign "Tax Against Poverty", Germany

ATTAC, Germany

Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Belgium

Confederación Revolucionaria de Obreros y Campesinos, (CROC), México

ASDE Scouts de España, Spain

Comité Nacional de la Confederación de Trabajadores, México

Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), India

ATTAC- Hellas, Greece

Jubilee Debt Campaign, UK

Grupo de Tecnología Alternativa SC, Mexico

NKOTA-netzwerk, Germany

Mujer y Medio Ambiente AC, Mexico

Red de Genero y Medio Ambiente, Mexico

Jubilee USA Network, US

Civil Society Forum for Climate Change, Tanzania

Secretariado Social Mexicano, A.C., Mexico

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, Russia

Secours Catholique / Caritas, France

Intersindical Valenciana, Spain

Altermond, Japan

Coalición española de la Campaña Mundial por la Educación ( Ayuda en Acción, Educación sin Fronteras, Entreculturas), Spain

Mexicanos Contra La Desigualdad, Coalición Nacional Mexicana del GCAP, Mexico

Comisión Nacional de Enlace (CNE) – Costa Rica

World Democratic Governance Project Association (apGDM-WDGpa), Spain

Health Alliance International, USA

ACV-CSC, Belgium

Observatori del Deute en la Globalització, Catalunya / Spain

ATTAC, Austria

AFRICANDO de Gran Canaria, Spain

Mirada Solidaria, Spain

Federation of Trade Unions, Ukraine

Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), National Trade Union Centre, India

Association of Citizens for International Solidarity Taxes, Japan

International Solidarity Tax Joint Campaign, Japan

RESULTS Japan

Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO), Japan

Japan NGO Network for Education (JNNE), Japan

Health, Pharmaceutical and Social Care Workers' Trade Union, Georgia

RESULTS, US

Unión Sindical Obrera (USO), Spain

Country-specific breakdown

16/G20 countries, 97 orgs:

UK – 26 orgs

Mexico - 14 orgs

US – 13 orgs

Canada – 10 orgs

Japan- 6 orgs

Belgium – 5 orgs

France – 5 orgs

Germany – 5 orgs

Italy – 4 orgs

India – 3 orgs

Indonesia – 2 orgs

Australia – 2 orgs

Argentina – 1, this and all following:

Russia

South Korea

Brazil

23 additional countries/47 orgs:

Spain - 16

Belgium - 5

Norway – 4

The Netherlands – 3

Denmark – 1, this and all following:

Georgia

Ukraine

Austria

Costa Rica

Senegal

Tanzania

Greece

Peru

Guatemala

Finland

Switzerland

Philippines

Uruguay

Bangladesh

The Gambia

Nigeria

Sierra Leone

New Zealand