Updates
A dollar a day in Malawi: Our new UBI partnership project
Back in the summer I asked Malawian economist Frank Kamanga, our long-term supporter and member of our International Advisory Board, why he supports universal basic income.
“I was motivated to join the global UBI movement because of the...
A new proposal for climate justice: International carbon charge and dividend
World Basic Income has today published a new paper outlining proposals for an international carbon charge scheme, that would:
Cap overall carbon extraction
Require all fossil fuel extractors to buy permits
Provide real climate justice
Paper on "Just Transition" submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty
World Basic Income, in partnership with Rahul Basu of the Goa Foundation, has submitted a paper to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty. The paper proposes an International Carbon Charge and Dividend as a key policy for worldwide "Just Transition" to a green economy.
WEBINAR - Basic income: A better world after the pandemic
Extinction Rebellion's Ideas Exchange invited WBI's directors and International Advisory Board members to a panel discussion on basic income.
With highlights from:
Caroline Teti, GiveDirectly, Kenya
Sarath Davala, India Network for Basic Income
Julio Linares, basic income researcher, Guatemala.
Barb Jacobson, Basic Income UK.
Laura Bannister, World Basic Income
Paul Harnett, World Basic Income
Oxfam calls for $1 trillion of global money creation
Oxfam International is calling for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to create $1 trillion worth of 'Special Drawing Rights' (SDRs) - the IMF's global currency - to provide cash transfers to every person in the world who needs them. The aim is to stave off a massive increase in global poverty, which Oxfam's new report predicts could return to the shocking levels of thirty years ago.
Podcast: Basic income and the global pandemic struggle
World Basic Income's Laura Bannister and Paul Harnett contribute to FEASTA's 'Bridging the Gaps' podcast, to discuss why a worldwide basic income - a regular cash payment for every adult and child in the world - is vital as part of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Proposed world basic income triples to $30 per person
The amount that can be paid out each month as world basic income will depends on how much can be raised through global taxation and other charges. When we began this campaign we proposed a world basic income of $10 per person per month. However, our calculations have since shown that, with just a few small taxes and charges applied to over-use of the global commons, we could raise enough for a significantly higher basic income.
Why Liverpool football star Sadio Mane is a genius
In Senegal, as in most of West Africa, people are getting by on very little. The average wage is $150 a month, and many people don't have even that as unemployment is stuck at nearly 15%. Many people work in agriculture, which - despite providing one of life's most vital necessities - unfortunately (and unfairly) just doesn't pay.
How to reach Net Zero while ending extreme poverty
Genuine climate justice means thinking big when it comes to economic inequality. A 'carbon fee and dividend' would reduce emissions and poverty.
Extinction Rebellion (XR) is demanding that the UK reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025. This is reasonable, but if we're going to get there so quickly we need to be talking right now about how we can achieve this.
An interview with Sarath Davala of India Network for Basic Income
World Basic Income's Laura Bannister interviewed Sarath Davala, head of the India Network for Basic Income, at the Nordic Basic Income Conference in Oslo, April 2019.
I'm a sociologist. Twenty years ago I was teaching at a business school, but I wanted to work in rural areas, so I got to know SEWA and I started working for them part-time.
India pushes forward on basic income
This year has already brought two huge developments in India's drive towards basic income. First the ruling party of Sikkim state, the Sikkim Democratic Front, are including basic income in its manifesto for the 2019 elections, with a plan to implement by 2022. And then the main national opposition party, the Congress party, has promised a 'nationwide minimum income for the poor', starting as soon as May 2019 if they are elected.
UN Secretary General endorses UBI
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has endorsed Universal Basic Income in a speech at the General Assembly.
This follows an in-depth report by the UN Human Rights Council that explored the potential for universal basic income to address extreme poverty and guarantee essential human rights, and discussed the growing movement for worldwide basic income.