The Global Solidarity Levies Task Force has today published a new study, commissioned to Professor Gunther Capelle-Blancard (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), on a ‘Green Financial Transaction Tax’.

The report aims to assess whether and how the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) could be “greened” – that is, adapted or utilized to support environmental objectives and the financing of the transition to a more sustainable economy. While traditionally conceived as a regulatory tool, the FTT also holds unexploited potential as an instrument for climate finance and broader environmental alignment.

This paper outlines five complementary arguments in favour of a green FTT:

(1) its capacity to mobilize stable, international funding for global public goods;
(2) its symbolic relevance in light of the financial sector’s contribution to social and environmental disruption;
(3) its ability to modestly lengthen investment horizons and counteract excessive short-termism;
(4) its potential to enhance public trust in finance by matching rhetoric about sustainable finance with contributions; and
(5) its prospective use as a differentiated tool to reward environmentally responsible issuers.

The report also includes a first quantitative assessment of potential revenues from a tiered green FTT, illustrating how such a mechanism could operationalize the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in climate finance.

While recognizing practical limitations (in terms of governance, data reliability, and risk of complexity) the paper concludes that a well-calibrated green FTT could be a simple yet effective lever in aligning financial markets with the ecological transition.

The report represents the views of the author alone and does not necessarily reflect the positions of the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force or its members.

Soma ripoti