Patrick Grady: G20 finance meeting is an opportunity to help

The seismic events that have shaken the global economy over recent years demand that we reappraise the wider global financial system and the role that governments, corporations and financial institutions play in our world. There are a number of areas that could be addressed immediately.

Introducing a small transactions tax on high-end financial products, such as derivatives, could provide vital additional public funding at a time of severe fiscal restraint. A tiny “Robin Hood Tax” of just 0.05 per cent on these trades would provide over £250 billion every year, including £20 billion in the UK alone, to boost social spending here in the UK, tackle global poverty and support people facing the effects of climate change overseas.

The UK must also press for European “country by country reporting” legislation to ensure oil, gas and mining companies operating overseas declare what they pay developing country governments for access to the natural resources they profit from.

In Zambia, a country in which two-thirds of the population lives in poverty and life expectancy is 47 years, 70 per cent of exports come from copper mining but this generates just 10 per cent of national income. Country by country reporting would help to make sure that people in developing countries where EU companies operate saw the benefits of their natural resources.

Thousands of Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) supporters across Scotland have added their voices to our call for oil, mining and gas companies to “publish what they pay”.

These two small shifts in international financial legislation could make a huge difference to people living in poverty around the world.

• Patrick Grady is the advocacy manager for SCIAF