Bartsch calls for "climate wealth tax" after budget ruling
Left-wing parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch has called for a "climate wealth tax" in view of the financial worries of the traffic light coalition. "After the ruling from Karlsruhe, there must be no social cuts to plug the 60 billion hole," Bartsch told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. Not the "little people", but multi-millionaires and billionaires should be called upon to modernize Germany.
Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the reallocation of 60 billion euros in loans in the 2021 budget null and void. They had been approved to tackle the coronavirus crisis, but were to be used for climate protection and modernizing the economy. Now the billions are not available. The FDP then brought up the idea of cutting social benefits.
"The latest Oxfam figures show this: We need a climate wealth tax," said Bartsch. The development organization Oxfam presented a report on Monday according to which the richest one per cent of the world's population caused as many climate-damaging greenhouse gases in 2019 as the five billion people who make up the poorer two thirds.
Bartsch demanded that the savings required following the ruling should be made elsewhere. The special fund for the Bundeswehr, which the Left Party rejects, should be put to the test and reduced accordingly.
Dietmar Bartsch, advocating for a "climate wealth tax," emphasized that the solution to financing climate protection and economic modernization shouldn't come from household finances or social cuts, but rather from multi-millionaires and billionaires. The Oxfam report released last week supports this call, revealing that the richest 1% of the world's population was responsible for emissions equal to those of the poorer 2/3rd, underscoring the need for such a tax.
Source: www.dpa.com
