JOHANNESBURG, 4 November (H.S.): A G20 taskforce, established under the leadership of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, has called for the creation of an international panel to address what it terms an inequality emergency, warning that extreme wealth disparities are a threat to democracy and economic stability. The recommendation was announced on Monday(November 3, 2025), ahead of the G20 leaders' summit in Johannesburg.
The report, commissioned as part of South Africa's G20 presidency, highlights stark findings on global wealth distribution. It reveals that the richest 1% of the world's population has captured 41% of all new wealth created since the year 2000, while the poorest 50% saw their wealth increase by only 1%.
Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who chairs the taskforce, stated, The world understands that we have a climate emergency; it's time we recognise that we face an inequality emergency too.The taskforce proposes that the new panel on inequality be modeled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to monitor the causes and impacts of inequality and provide policy guidance to governments.
The report also notes that a perfect storm of global shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, has exacerbated poverty and inequality, with billionaire wealth reaching its highest level in history while one in four people globally regularly skips meal. The United States is set to take over the rotating G20 presidency at the end of the year.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
