Tax havens are countries that set low tax rates to attract investment. Companies and wealthy individuals are able to use tax loopholes in their home countries to take advantage of low tax rates in tax haven countries. For example, in 2018 and 2019, Shell avoided taxes on more than $2.7 billion in profits by using fake companies in Bermuda and the Bahamas. 

Tax havens remove tax revenue from nations and increase the wealth of the companies and individuals that take advantage of them. By closing tax loopholes, countries can generate more tax revenue to use for stopping the climate emergency or helping those most harmed by it. Closing tax loopholes also reduces the wealth of companies like Shell who might have incentives to fight against efforts to tackle the climate emergency, thereby reducing their ability to prevent climate action within their home countries.

Tax havens may be hard to close, however. In many cases, countries like to offer low tax rates to encourage companies to move to them, for example, meaning they are viewed as important for providing local jobs and incomes. Powerful people who benefit from tax havens may also be reluctant to close them. 

International diplomacy and adjustments to local tax rules can also help close loopholes and force companies to follow the correct regulations. A more radical way to remove tax havens would be to harmonize global tax systems, ensuring countries can’t develop loopholes and incentives so easily.

To activate this Global Project, players need to tuck Local Project cards from their hands under this card. The requirement is 1 Regulation tag for each player in the game, tucked by anyone (for example one player may tuck 2 cards, while another doesn't tuck any).

Once active: Each player draws an additional Local Project card each round at the start of the Local stage.

• New Study Raises Red Flags on Tax Haven Role In Environmental Destruction (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)

• Tax Coordination Can Lead to a Fairer, Greener Global Economy (International Monetary Fund, IMF)

• One weird trick to fix climate change: Close the offshore wealth loophole (Vox)

• Support laws that would close tax loopholes even if they aren’t explicitly about the climate emergency

• Encourage politicians and lawmakers to hold companies accountable for tax evasion. 

• If you live in a tax haven campaign for your governments to set fair tax rates.