NCA at the UN tax negotiations
From the 4th to 15th of August, Matilde Angeltveit from the head office, Daisy Lutango Mwilima from the Zambia office, and our partner bishop Nelson Kisare from the Tanzanian Interfaith Standing Committee on Economic Justice and Integrity of Creation, participated in the UN negotiations on a tax convention held in New York.
Some key activities:
- We organized an action with the global civil society, demanding that the new global tax rules contribute to meeting the climate and sustainability goals, and increases revenue for developing countries
- We met with Zambian, Norwegian, Tanzanian and European negotiators to share our perspectives and explain our demands
- We wrote a daily newsletter that we handed out to negotiators every day to update them on our positions and reactions to the negotiations
- We spoke and raised our concerns both inside the negotiation rooms, and outside.
- Lutangu had a speech on the importance of proper taxation of extractive industries, during a global civil society side event.
- We coordinated, updated and discussed positions with the global network, including with organisations focused on climate, human rights, economic justice, development, gender justice and with labour unions.
- Bishop Kisare held a joint church service with the pastor in the Norwegian church in NY, Geir Øy. He highlighted the ecumenical arguments for a strong tax convention, and together we involved the need to fight inequality, poverty, and the adoption of a fair UN tax convention, in the prayers.
Some key takeaways from the negotiations:
- This was the first substantial negotiations on the UN tax convention, and the road ahead is still pretty open. So this is an ideal time for us to influence the countries’ positions!
- The terms of reference that the negotiations are based on are pretty good, and we did not lose any of our important points yet, so everything is still in play! Key words for us are that the convention needs to be: Fair, transparent, sustainable, equitable and inclusive. Taxation of high net worth individuals, the recognition of the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities, and the support of progressive, gender-responsive and environmentally friendly taxation is also important for us to highlight.
- While most global north countries prefer some minor adjustments to the existing tax rules, the Africa group and civil society are both imagining a bigger transformation and update of the international taxing system. We are advocating for a system of unitary taxation of multinational companies, that reduces administration costs in developing countries, and that eliminates the huge amounts of tax dodging taking place today.
What's next?
The next step is new negotiations in Nairobi in November, where NCA plans to mobilise many of our regional partners. The UN tax convention is scheduled to be finished and ready for states to sign on to in the autumn of 2027 - so we will continue our fight for a fairer global tax system!
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