With the uncertainty generated by the outcome of the elections in the United States, two key meetings for the multilateral agenda begin this week: the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and COP29 in Baku (Azerbaijan). These meetings also coincide with the 191st session of the IACHR, which will hold several hearings on the intersection of human rights and economic and climate issues. Dejusticia will be participating, together with partner organizations, in advocacy activities in these three spaces.

The G20 is a multilateral forum of countries representing 90% of the world’s GDP, 80% of global trade and two thirds of the world’s population. On this occasion, this group will discuss central issues to international economic cooperation, such as Brazil’s proposal to create a global minimum tax on super-rich people. COP29 on climate change has been dubbed the COP on finance, as key decisions will be taken on the mobilization of resources, including whether to adopt a new global finance target that commits higher-income countries, which are the main causes of the climate crisis, to assume their share of responsibility. 

In the framework of the G-20, Dejusticia will advocate for more inclusive and effective international tax cooperation to address the main challenges of the climate and development agenda. Together with our allies at the Center for Economic and Social Rights, we produced a policy paper for the T-20 (the group of global Think Tanks that influence the G-20 agenda) with a series of recommendations for incorporating human rights principles into the international tax architecture reform agenda. These recommendations are particularly important given that after a process of advocacy with our allies in the Human Rights Principles in Tax Policy Initiative, human rights were incorporated as principles in the terms of reference for the negotiation of a future UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. The G20 countries must make a strong call to take advantage of the opportunity represented by the negotiation of this Convention to seek solutions to problems such as tax abuses and power asymmetries in the definition of international tax rules between the Global North and the Global South. 

The international economic cooperation agenda that will be the focus of decisions at the G20 is fundamental to achieving a comprehensive response to the climate emergency. That is why Dejusticia, in partnership with INCLO, will organize an event in the framework of the Social G20 to discuss the interrelationship between the economic and climate justice agenda. Our recent video on 10 theses on climate justice is a good preamble on the multidimensional vision of climate justice that we want to position in these spaces. Dejusticia will also participate in other panels on climate finance.

Dejusticia will join efforts with allied organizations at COP29 to join the global call for the establishment of an ambitious global goal for climate finance and other decisions to restore the credibility of these multilateral spaces. Our statement as members of the Latin American and Caribbean Network for a Sustainable Financial System contains nine key priorities that will guide our advocacy at COP29. We will also insist on the need to create a favorable international environment for the countries of the Global South to move towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient development model, a discussion that Colombia has led in spaces such as COP16. We will also strengthen links with other networks in which we work that will be present, such as the ESCR-Net and the climate change and human rights group. 

Finally, on Thursday, November 14, Dejusticia will participate in the Thematic Hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the impact of special economic zones and jurisdictions with low financial transparency on tax justice and climate change convened in partnership with 16 regional and global organizations. This hearing reflects the openness of the Inter-American Human Rights System to address pioneering issues for the human rights agenda that are at the heart of environmental and climate justice concerns in the region. This is the first thematic hearing to link tax and financial transparency issues with the climate agenda. The hearing can be followed virtually here.