A global emergency is unfolding — and it’s not only climate change that threatens the world’s stability. Experts are sounding the alarm over an escalating inequality crisis, urging G20 leaders gathering in South Africa this month to confront the widening gap between the ultra-rich and billions struggling to survive.
According to a new report led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, one in four people across the globe are now regularly skipping meals, even as billionaire wealth climbs to record-breaking levels. The committee behind the report is calling for a new International Panel on Inequality, modeled after the UN’s climate panel, to analyze and guide solutions to this urgent crisis.
Between 2000 and 2024, the richest one per cent seized 41 per cent of all new wealth — while the poorest half of the world saw just one per cent. The report warns that inequality is not just economically destabilizing; it threatens democracy itself. With more than 80 per cent of countries facing high inequality, societies are growing more polarized, trust in institutions is falling, and authoritarian forces are gaining ground.
The challenge is compounded by global trade tensions, particularly under US policies that prioritize power over fair rules. The report warns that such a “law of the jungle” approach risks deepening inequality worldwide.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who commissioned the report, called it “a blueprint for greater equality” and pledged to push this agenda at the G20 summit. Proposed measures include fairer taxation for the wealthy and multinational corporations, breaking monopolies, stabilizing prices, and relieving crushing debt burdens on poorer nations.
With US leadership unlikely to support the proposed panel, experts hope other nations will step forward. As Stiglitz emphasized, this moment demands recognition that inequality — like climate change — is a global emergency with deep political, social, and economic consequences.
