Overview
- Commissioned under South Africa’s G20 presidency, the taskforce called for a permanent, IPCC‑style body to track inequality and advise governments, with the proposal headed to leaders in Johannesburg this month.
- The report finds the top 1% captured 41% of new wealth since 2000, while the poorest half gained just 1%, based on World Inequality Lab data.
- It warns that 83% of countries, covering 90% of the global population, meet the World Bank’s high‑inequality threshold and are more likely to experience democratic decline.
- Citing research by Salvatore Morelli, the committee projects up to $70 trillion in wealth transfers by 2035, which it says will further entrench concentration without stronger countervailing policies.
- Authors attribute worsening inequality to shocks including COVID‑19, the war in Ukraine and trade disputes, noting one in four people regularly skip meals and billionaire wealth has reached a record level.