The World Inequality Lab (WIL) has published a comprehensive vision for planetary survival, asserting that humanity can raise living standards, reduce inequality, and keep global heating within a 2C rise. The report, titled the Global Justice Report, aims to navigate the polycrisis of climate breakdown, political extremism, and economic tension.
Bold Policy Proposals
The report proposes hefty wealth taxes on billionaires, sharp reductions in working hours, dietary changes, and a shift of investment from material-intensive sectors like industry and mining to education and health. If implemented, the authors claim 89% of the world population would see their incomes double by 2100, and global heating would stay below 2C above preindustrial averages.
Thomas Piketty, co-director of the WIL and professor at the Paris School of Economics, stated: "There's a huge cultural, intellectual, political battle going on. The ideology seen with Trump and similar figures across Europe will not deliver. Cooperative redistribution of resources and power is necessary; otherwise, disastrous outcomes await on environmental, climate, and social grounds."
Addressing the Polycrisis
The report attempts to overcome shortcomings of mainstream approaches, including the materialistic emphasis of traditional leftist parties, the questionable efficacy of degrowth, and the lack of social impact studies by the IPCC. It incorporates inequality studies, climate science, and proposals for a political coalition to reform global financial architecture.
The Concept of Sufficiency
At its core is the concept of sufficiency, where people can enjoy prosperous, healthy lives without constantly consuming more material possessions that degrade the natural world. The authors envision three steps: halving average working time from 2,100 to 1,000 hours annually (roughly a 2.5-day workweek), encouraging less red meat consumption, and refocusing the economy toward low-consumption activities by doubling education spending to €8,400 per person and healthcare spending to €14,400.
Piketty explained: "One extra euro of GDP in education and health has three to four times less material footprint and energy consumption than in manufacturing. Sectoral shifts are hugely important."
Tackling Inequality
The plan targets an average per capita gross national income of €5,000 per month globally by 2100, with greatest gains in the global south. The megarich would face high taxes due to their responsibility for the climate crisis. The share of global wealth held by billionaires (0.001% of population) would fall from 6% to 0.05%, while the bottom 50% would see their share increase from 2% to 30%.
Reducing Climate Risks
The report projects emissions cuts close to zero by redirecting capital from the wealthiest into wind, solar, and other renewables to achieve complete decarbonisation and electrification by 2050. Further savings come from reduced working hours, dietary shifts, and economic activity changes. This is projected to keep global temperature rises to 1.8C by 2100, lower than catastrophic 4C-4.5C under slow decarbonisation scenarios.
Practical Steps
Key steps include creating a global justice fund to finance the energy transition and increase education and healthcare spending to 38% of world GDP (up from 13%). A world sovereign fund would rebalance global wealth holdings closer to 1970 proportions. The report concludes: "A habitable, equal 21st century is materially possible. What stands in the way is political choice and building a coalition."
Cornelia Mohren, co-author and environmental coordinator at the WIL, acknowledged the vision is "utopian" but necessary to show alternative paths. She said: "It is good to know we can combine an equal world with staying within carbon budgets. That makes me feel hopeful."
Piketty noted that countries like Sweden and Norway have rapidly reduced inequality through government policies and investment in education and health, while working hours in Europe have halved since the 19th century. He stressed addressing inequality and planetary habitability together to avoid mistakes like the Yellow Vest protests in France, where a carbon tax hit working and middle-class people harder than the rich.
The report will be unveiled at the World Inequality Conference from 4-6 June in Paris, with speakers including Ha-Joon Chang, Jean Drèze, Jayati Ghosh, Mariana Mazzucato, Branko Milanović, Lea Ypi, and Gabriel Zucman. Jason Hickel, professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, called it "an important and timely intervention. All of this is technically feasible, but it will require organised political struggle."
