To help poor countries contend with the costly effects of record-high global temperatures and the changing climate, a report has proposed going after the wealthy's wallets.
That is, their digital wallets.
The Guardian detailed how the Global Solidarity Levies taskforce asserts that taxing cryptocurrency at $0.045 per kWh would generate $5 billion a year.
Solidarity levies have high-profile backers, including President of France Emmanuel Macron, and they target taxes on high-carbon industries to aid poor countries in weathering the storm of a shifting climate.
France, Barbados, and Kenya are taking the lead on the initiative, with France's Laurence Tubiana, an architect of the Paris Climate Agreement, quarterbacking the task force.
Cryptocurrency is a logical target for the levies as mining requires a disproportionate amount of energy. The Guardian cited a report that estimated mining accounted for nearly 1% of global energy demand in 2023.
There are positive steps to rein in cryptocurrency's energy usage and pollution. Using proof-of-stake over proof-of-work, as Ethereum does, greatly reduces the computing power needed.
Many companies and countries are also tapping into clean energy to power transactions and mining, which could make outright crypto bans counterproductive.
Other ideas for solidarity levies extend to plastic production that doesn't use recycled material and a Brazil-backed 2% wealth tax. The report noted that the plastic tax could generate $25-35 billion a year, while the wealth tax could garner a staggering $200-250 billion.
One more mechanism proposed is to put a tax on business class and frequent flyer airline tickets, which could raise as much as $164 billion a year.
The huge figures and bold proposals underscore the seriousness of the impacts of rising global temperatures. It's seen in extreme heat, droughts, and catastrophic storms that threaten the global food and water supply while increasingly leading to fatal weather events.
The Guardian related that a separate report by experts in climate finance said that poor countries will need $1 trillion a year by 2030 to contend with new challenges. It allocated half of that from the private sector, a quarter from multilateral development banks, and the rest from grants and initiatives like solidarity levies.
For now, these ideas "are still only concepts," as The Guardian characterized it.
A major obstacle standing in the way may be U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who many speculate will take steps in the other direction, such as exiting the Paris Agreement.
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