G20 Taskforce Proposes Global Inequality Panel to Address Wealth Disparity Emergency

The United States is preparing to assume the rotating G20 presidency as this year concludes.

A G20 taskforce established under South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's leadership has advocated for creating an international panel focused on addressing inequality, highlighting that extreme wealth disparities threaten democratic systems and create economic instability.

"While the world acknowledges we face a climate emergency, we must also recognize we're confronting an inequality emergency," stated Joseph Stiglitz, who leads the Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality.

The committee's findings - commissioned during South Africa's G20 presidency - revealed that the wealthiest 1% of global citizens have acquired 41% of new wealth generated since 2000.

In stark contrast, the poorest 50% of the population saw their wealth increase by merely 1%, according to research from the World Inequality Lab.

"Beyond being unfair and undermining social cohesion, this inequality presents serious problems for our economic systems and political structures," added Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winning economist.

The taskforce recommended establishing a new inequality panel modeled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This body would monitor inequality's causes and impacts while providing guidance to governments and policymakers.

Their report further warned that 83% of countries worldwide, representing 90% of the global population, meet the World Bank's criteria for inequality, and nations with high inequality demonstrate greater vulnerability to democratic deterioration.

The experts identified a "perfect storm" of global disruptions including COVID-19, the Ukraine conflict, and trade tensions as factors exacerbating poverty and inequality. They highlighted that one-quarter of the global population regularly skips meals while billionaire wealth has reached unprecedented levels.

This inequality taskforce, the first of its kind for the G20, is scheduled to present its conclusions to G20 leaders at their November summit in Johannesburg.

The United States will take over the G20 presidency's rotating leadership at year's end.