EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS!!

UN Holds Washington news conference to promote global
taxes on Americans

Topic: "Sustainability & Equity: A Better Future for All"

A discussion of the 2011 Human Development Report with
Olav Kjorven, UN Assistant Secretary-General & Director of
UNDP's Bureau of Development Policy
William Orme, Chief, Communications & Publishing,
UNDP Human Development Report Office
Andrew Deutz, PhD, Director, International Government Relations,
The Nature Conservancy

Moderated by Elizabeth Shogren, National Public Radio

Wednesday, Nov. 30, 12-2 p.m.
University of California, Washington Center (UCDC)
1608 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036

Click on the hyperlinked videos to see
UN officials discussing the need for
global taxes on America.

Please distribute to your friends and neighbors

UN official urges global tax on Americans
William Orme of the UN Development Program explains the global tax proposal, known as an international currency transactions tax, in the 2011 Human Development Report. The U.S. pays about $100 million a year to UNDP, $7.7 billion a year to the U.N. itself. A global tax is necessary, he says, so the international community can “get its global act together.” He adds, “We can afford it.”

UN Official Describes Global IRS
William Orme of the UN Development Program explains how a global tax would be collected. The UNDP 2011 Human Development Report urges a "universal" or global tax. He says a global “structure” would have to be put in place to collect the international tax.

Former UN official says "inequality," not global taxes, is what the UN should be talking about
Former UN official Fred Tipson, who ran the UN Development Program in DC, talks about the 2011 UNDP Human Development Report and its call for a global tax, also known as the Tobin tax. He says it was a mistake for the U.N. to talk about taxes, rather than “inequality” and other notions behind street protests against capitalism.

UN officials defend global tax talk
UN Development Program officials William Orme and Olav Kjorven talk about global taxes on American taxpayers, who already spend about $100 million annually on the UNDP and $7.7 billion a year on the UN itself.

Participants:

Olav Kjorven is Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau of Development Policy at UNDP. From 2005-2007, he led UNDP's Environment & Energy Group, promoting sound environmental management and access to energy for poverty reduction. From 1997-2000, he served as political adviser to the Minister on International Development and Human Rights. He has also served as Director of International Development at the Centre for Economic Analysis.

William Orme is Chief of Communications & Publishing at the UNDP Human Development Report Office in New York. He worked previously for the United Nations in Sierra Leone, overseeing a transition from a UN peacekeeping radio service to a national public broadcaster, and advised the Gates Foundation on other African media projects. Before that he served as UNDP's Policy Advisor for Independent Media Development and as UNDP's spokesman and head of External Communications. A former Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, he is an author of books on NAFTA and the Mexican press and has reported on international affairs for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, and other publications.

Dr. Andrew Deutz is a leading expert in international environmental law, policy and negotiations, as well as international conservation and development. He currently directs international government relations at The Nature Conservancy, overseeing the organization's international policy work on topics including biodiversity conservation, climate change, and marine and freshwater policy, as well as overseeing relationships with international organizations, multilateral development banks, and US government agencies that work internationally. Prior to joining TNC in 2006, he served in several leadership roles with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and has served as the Lead Forest Negotiator for the US State Department and as Forest Policy Advisor to the World Bank.

Elizabeth Shogren joined NPR in 2005 to cover environmental issues. She previously spent 14 years as a reporter at The Los Angeles Times. She has reported on major environmental news including the BP oil spill, toxic air pollution and the impact of climate change on iconic trees such as Joshua Trees and the white bark pine trees at the highest elevations in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. From 1993-2000, Shogren worked from The Los Angeles Times Washington bureau covering the White House, Congress, social policy, money and politics, and presidential campaigns. During that time, she also covered the Kosovo crisis in 1999, the Bosnian war in 1996, and Russian elections in 1993 and 1996. Before joining the Washington bureau, she was based in Moscow where she covered the breakup of the Soviet Union and the rise of democracy in Russia for the newspaper.