Webinar to address global tax system

An ecumenical webinar will focus on using the global tax system as a tool to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and to repair systemic issues such as rising socio-economic inequality and runaway climate change.

“ZacTax: A Reparatory Tax System for a Just and Sustainable Recovery” will be held on 25 June, 15:00 – 16:30 (CEST). Register here.

Addressing the G20 International Taxation Symposium, the webinar will discuss how proposals from social movements for tax justice and reparations—as called for in the ecumenical Zacchaeus Tax campaign—can help create a just and sustainable recovery from the pandemic.

Provisional programme:

• Opening and introduction, by Gordon Cowans
• “How and why is tax justice critical for a just and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic?” by Manuel (Butch) Montes
• “What are the models and practices for a reparatory global tax system and what could it deliver?” by Priya Lukka
• “What does recovery and reparation look like?” by Adetola Onamade and Marina Tricks (TBC)
• “Introduction to ZacTax toolkit and how can we as churches advocate for the ZacTax proposals?” by Philip Peacock and Justin Thacker
• Q&A moderated by Gordon Cowans
• Closing remarks by Gorden Simango

The webinar is co-organized by the Council for World Mission, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Council of Churches, and World Methodist Council as part of the New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA) initiative.

Gordon Cowans is moderator of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, principal at Knox Community College, and a member of the Ecumenical Panel on a NIFEA.

Manuel (Butch) Montes is senior advisor at Society for International Development and a member of the Ecumenical Panel on a NIFEA. Previously he worked with the South Centre, the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs and the East-West Centre.

Priya Lukka is an international development economist and visiting research fellow at the Goldsmiths University in London. Previously she worked with ChristianAid in the UK.

Adetola Onamade and Marina Tricks are students involved in anti-racism, decolonial, and climate justice movements. Together with another young person, they are suing the United Kingdom government for failing to honour climate obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Philip Peacock is executive secretary for justice and mission at the WCRC and formerly associate professor in the Department of Theology, Ethics, and Social Analysis at Bishop’s College in India.

Justin Thacker is a theologian and medical doctor and currently coordinates the UK-based Church Action for Tax Justice.