ROBIN HOOD TAX
BUILDING A GLOBAL MOVEMENT
A Campaign That Helped Reshape The Global Debate
Following the global financial crisis, Stamp Out Poverty helped found and build the international Robin Hood Tax campaign, bringing together civil society organisations, economists, trade unions, faith groups and campaigners behind a simple idea: a tiny tax on financial transactions could generate billions to tackle poverty, inequality and climate change.
What began as a bold proposal quickly became one of the world's largest coordinated advocacy campaigns. Millions of people supported the campaign, alongside more than 1,000 economists - including Jeffrey Sachs, Lord Turner and Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz- and public figures including Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson and Andrew Lincoln.
Photo by Oxfam International.
$25-30bn
Public revenue raised
1,000+
Economists backing it
1 million+
Petition Signatures
OUR ROLE
Building an International Coalition
Stamp Out Poverty played a central role in developing the campaign and helping it grow from a UK initiative into an influential international coalition.
By bringing together organisations with diverse expertise and constituencies, we helped build broad political support for Financial Transactions Taxes while creating opportunities for partners to share research, coordinate advocacy and strengthen the case for reform across multiple countries.
Although the campaign is no longer active at its previous scale, Stamp Out Poverty continues to convene an international network of experts and advocates working on Financial Transactions Taxes and related issues of tax justice and innovative public finance.
OUR LEGACY
Turning a Bold Idea into Public Policy
The Robin Hood Tax campaign helped transform a once-radical proposal into mainstream public policy. Financial Transactions Taxes have since been introduced in countries including France, Italy and Spain, raising an estimated $25–30 billion in public revenue to date.
The campaign demonstrated the power of broad coalitions to shift public debate, influence policymaking and turn ambitious ideas into practical reforms. It also helped establish the collaborative campaigning model that continues to shape Stamp Out Poverty's work today - from Make Polluters Pay to the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels process.
