YOUNGO’s  “Robin Hood Champion Awards” will be granted to nations who discuss, support, or negotiate for the Robin Hood Tax (Financial Transaction Tax) here at COP17. The award is congratulate and thank these parties for their foresightedness and commitment to equity. While equal in prestige to a Grammy or Nobel Peace Prize, the award comes with a congratulatory button and a Robin Hood Hat.

Today’s Robin Hood Champion is…

PAKISTAN!

Pakistan wins for making a big statement of support to our favorite funding mechanism this morning during the negotiator’s informal group meeting on finance:  “One of the biggest sources of innovative finance is going to be from an FTT—we must be open to this possibility.” The Pakistani delegate also stated: “At the UNFCCC we think the primary sources must be public.  We have to agree on this one single element. There must be an openness of Parties to look at all sources with flexibility and openness.”

UN Parties have agreed that $100 billion annually must be mobilized by 2020 to support communities in developing nations adapt to and mitigate climate change. The Financial transaction tax (FTT) is a micro-tax of 0.01–0.05% levied on trade in stocks, foreign currency exchange and financial derivatives of which are transactions that occur rapidly and continuously, meaning that a huge amount could be raised, possibly up to $650 billion per year globally for climate finance and/or other international development uses. YOUNGO takes the stance that it is an essential way to fill the empty Green Climate Found. For more information about the FTT, visit http://robinhoodtax.org/