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This is what underlies the proposal to gain support from world leaders and experts to create a new ‘International Panel on Inequality’, an independent body that would gather evidence on the causes and consequences of widening inequality and help governments understand what can be done to address it.
The initiative was highlighted in New York on September 23, at an event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. high level weekhosted by Brazil, Norway, South Africa and Spain.
In remarks delivered by the Deputy Secretary General Aminah MuhammadUN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed this challenge forcefully, warning of the deepening concentration of wealth and power and the risks this poses to society and the international system.
“Sustainable Development Goal 10 calls on us to reduce disparities within and between countries. “Yet we see astonishing levels of income and wealth inequality, with the world’s richest 10 percent now owning 75 percent of all wealth,” said Guterres.
When technology widens the gap
For the UN Secretary General, his concern is not only the magnitude of the current gaps, but also how quickly they could worsen.
He warned that the rapid development of leading-edge technologies could exacerbate existing inequalities, especially if wealth and power remain concentrated in the hands of a few.
“The emergence of cutting edge technologies – and the concentration of wealth and power from these technologies in the hands of a few – could fuel global inequality on a scale far beyond anything we have ever seen,” he said.
The consequences, he warns, will not just impact household incomes and individual opportunities. Uncontrolled inequality can weaken democratic institutions and deepen inequality of power between countries.
“A world where only a few powerful countries can control global security and the global economic architecture is a time bombhe said.
IPCC to address disparities?
According to the UN Secretary General, the proposed International Panel on Inequality will seek to put independent, science-based evidence at the heart of the global response.
This meeting will bring together experts to analyze the scale, causes and consequences of disparities and identify practical policy options available to governments.
These options could include greater investment in education, health, social protection and decent work; fairer taxation; stronger international cooperation in the fields of development financing, trade and investment; reform of the global financial architecture; and more effective enforcement of regulations governing companies and high net worth individuals operating across borders.
Gender equality will be at the heart of the Panel’s work, alongside efforts to ensure that technologies such as artificial intelligence are accessible to, and regulated by, all countries.
“This proposed panel can deepen our understanding of this problem – and the policies and political choices we need to address it,” said the Secretary-General.
‘Collective threat’
Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who chaired the initiative’s founding committee, argued that inequality should be treated as a global challenge that requires as in-depth scientific analysis as climate change does.
“Inequality within and between countries represents a collective threat to the functioning of our economies and their ability to support human dignity,” he said, stressing that its impacts extend not only to the economic sphere, but also to politics, society and the environment.
The model is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCCwhich provides comparison at the heart of this initiative.
Stiglitz said the proposed inequality panel would also provide an independent body of experts capable of “assessing, synthesizing and presenting reliable knowledge and analysis” on the causes and consequences of inequality and possible policy responses.
However, he also emphasized the importance of providing a multilateral basis and legitimacy to the body. The founding committee, he said, supported the formation of the Panel through a UN resolution.
From proposals to UN resolutions
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley gave strong support to the proposal at the meeting, and looked forward to possible action from the General Assembly.
For Ms Mottley, addressing inequality is at the heart of whether the international community can fulfill the promises made to society through the UN.
“I would like to thank Brazil, Norway, South Africa and Spain for convening this session to enable us to be able to produce a resolution that I think will be a breakthrough resolution for this body, recognizing that if we are to be able to guarantee the promises of the UN charter to our citizens around the world, it is impossible for us to do this without ensuring that we address this fundamental problem of income inequality,” said Ms Mottley.
