Oxfam, a global organisation that fights inequality, has in a new report called on governments globally to increase the daily incomes of employees to $25 (Ksh3,811), a move it stated will go a long way in bridging the poverty gap.
Through the report dubbed Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%, Oxfam expressed concerns over societal inequalities and suggested a raft of reforms that can be initiated to address this problem.
“Oxfam is calling on governments to provide everyone living in poverty with a minimum daily income of $25 while reducing global emissions by 10 per cent,” the report stated.
The global redistribution of incomes the body said, will ensure that Kenya and other developing nations do not continue to bear the brunt of climate change effects.
The increase in daily income is informed by a report that the richest 1 per cent of the world’s population emitted four more times carbon in 2019 than the entire African population.
Carbon pollution from the 1 per cent has been projected to cause enough damage to wipe out the equivalent of over half of Africa’s production of rice, wheat, corn and soy.
Kenya and other African countries have already started experiencing the effects of pollution from the 1 per cent global rich with agricultural productivity falling by 34 per cent in the last 5 decades.
‘‘The super-rich continues to be one of the biggest threats to safe and sustainable life on our planet,’’ Oxfam noted in its report.
With increased incomes, Oxfam argues that the amount will help Africans prepare to face the climate damage caused by the super-rich.
Considering Kenya’s minimum wage is Ksh15,000 per month, implementing Oxfam’s proposal, would mean punching above the country's weight.
To navigate that, the global body proposes a 60 per cent tax on the incomes of the world's 1 per cent super-rich.
Through that, the body says it will be possible to raise $6.4 trillion a year that will be channelled to Africa and other third-world countries.
