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UK MUST SUPPORT FRENCH AND GERMAN DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Feb 17 2005

The UK is being urged to support French and German plans that would raise billions to reduce the impact of climate change and boost development aid for the world's poorer nations.

The call comes from Friends of the Earth as EU Finance Ministers meet in Brussels today to discuss proposals that could boost Millennium Development Goals which include combating HIV and AIDS and ensuring environmental sustainability.

Friends of the Earth Economic spokesperson Simon Bullock said:

"Money is desperately needed to tackle poverty, health and climate change. The EU finance ministers should support each other's schemes rather than fight about which is best."

The campaign group is calling on Gordon Brown to support Jacques Chirac's proposals for a Tobin Tax, which would bring in billions every year for the Millennium Development Goals, and make developing economies less vulnerable to attack by currency speculators.

He should also support Gerhard Schroeder's proposals for an aviation tax which will also raise billions and could be spent on sustainable development, such as renewable technologies in developing countries. The tax would also slow the growth of pollution from the aviation industry, reducing climate change damage which will hit poorest countries hardest.

Friends of the Earth says these measures are essential parts of a package to tackle the twin problems of poverty and climatechange.

Other parts of this package include debt relief, a large part of which could be financed by Gordon Brown's plan to revalue International Monetary Fund gold stocks, and a policy shift from the International Financial Institutions - away from funding new fossil fuel projects and into financing climate mitigation measures and sustainable, low carbon development in the south.

Millennium Development Goals:

The eight Millennium Development Goals were agreed at the United Nations Summit in September 2000 and nearly 190 countries have now signed up to them. They are:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

Tobin Tax

The Tobin Tax is a tax on currency trading - eg when a bank buys Dollars with Euros. It raises a substantial amount of money for Development Goals and stabilises economies.

The tax works at two levels:

1. A rate of 0.005% on all transactions - this would raise $15 billion for development projects without disrupting the market because the rate is so low.
2. A very high level which only applies when the market is very volatile with the aim of stabilising it and preventing crashes.

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