Campaigning Brings Results

An Extract Of An E-mail Received From Christian Aid

Dear Supporter,

As campaigners we know that changing the world is a long struggle, and that winning tax justice for the world’s poor will be no exception. But the results of the recent G20 meeting in Cannes show that together we’re making a real difference in the fight against poverty.

Over the last ten months we’ve campaigned locally and globally to end an injustice that sees poor countries lose more to tax dodging every year than they receive in aid – an injustice that has been called ‘the ugliest chapter in global economic affairs since slavery’.

As part of a new global End Tax Haven Secrecy coalition, we’ve sent 21,000 emails and postcards to David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Nicolas Sarkozy. We’ve written letters to our MPs, lobbied them at their constituency offices and, just six weeks ago, when it looked like the G20 was going to renege on its commitment to address tax dodging, thousands of us mobilised online to remind UK and French finance and development ministers of their promise.

And our persistence is working. When G20 leaders met in Cannes last week they had a lot of issues on their plate, but your campaigning, along with our coalition partners from around the world, made sure tax haven secrecy simply couldn’t be ignored.

The campaign is still in its early days - no one ever said ending tax dodging would be easy - but in under a year we’ve managed to get:

The G20 listing 11 tax havens that have failed to deliver on tax transparency. French President Nicolas Sarkozy came out strongly, saying the worst offenders ‘will be excluded from the international community’.

Every G20 member agreeing to sign a convention to ensure sharing of tax information between them, meaning tax dodgers will not be able to hide in G20 countries. They will also consider making information available automatically on a voluntary basis.

A call from the G20 for multinational companies to be more compliant and transparent in their dealings with poor countries, and
British PM David Cameron calling for principles to govern tax transparency in the global economy – a good sign our government is supportive of greater transparency.

All of this is really positive news and much more than we’d hoped for just a few months ago – as campaigners you should take great credit for what we’ve achieved together. But as I explain in my blog wrapping up the G20 meeting, there’s still a long way to go in the battle against tax dodging.

The only way the world has ever been changed is through persistence, hope and a belief in a better future. I’m confident that we have what it takes to end the injustice of tax dodging. Let’s redouble our efforts next year as the G20 heads to Mexico.

Thank you for everything you do.