The University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
Zero Waste Scotland, Stirling UK and University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
Global Health. 2023 Mar 20;19(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s12992-022-00894-6.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate emergency threaten progress in reaching many of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets by 2030. The under-5 mortality and maternal mortality rates are well below the targets, and if we progress at the current pace, there is a high risk of not meeting the 2030 goals. Furthermore, the initial progress in the decline in child and maternal mortality since 1990 is likely to be eroded. Much of this progress has resulted from increased sanitation, drinking water, education, and health service coverage. The adequate provision of public services is possible if there is sufficient government funding. When governments have more income, they spend more on public services, which increases access to fundamental economic and social rights and, thus, contributes to the SDGs. One of the key drivers of government financing, taxation, constitutes 70% of government revenue in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Corporate income tax constitutes 18.8% of tax revenue in African countries compared to 10% of tax revenue in OECD countries. Therefore, it plays a critical role in SDG progress. This paper aims to quantify the contribution of one large taxpayer, that publishes their tax payments, (Vodafone Group Plc) on progress towards SDGs in six African countries. We use econometric modelling to estimate the impact of an increase in government revenue equivalent to Vodafone's average tax paid between 2007-2017.
We find that government revenue equivalent to Vodafone's taxes made a significant contribution to progress in attaining selected SDGs. We found that the revenue equivalent to Vodafone's taxes allowed 966,188 people to access clean water and 1,371,972 people to access basic sanitation each year. Over the time period studied, 858,054 children spent an extra year in school and 54,275 children under five years and 3,655 mothers survived. In just one of these countries, Tanzania, the revenue equivalent to Vodafone's tax contribution allowed 174,121 people to access clean water and 223,586 to access sanitation each year. Over the time studied 187,023 children spent an additional year at school, 6,569 additional children under five and 625 additional mothers survived.
These findings demonstrate that the reported contributions from a single multinational corporation drive SDG progress. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of transparent taxes and explores the responsibilities of global institutions, governments, investors, and multinational corporations.
COVID-19 大流行和气候紧急情况威胁到 2030 年实现许多可持续发展目标（SDG）的进展。5 岁以下儿童死亡率和孕产妇死亡率远低于目标，如果我们按照目前的速度取得进展，那么实现 2030 年目标的风险很高。此外，自 1990 年以来，儿童和孕产妇死亡率下降的初步进展可能会被侵蚀。这在很大程度上是由于环境卫生、饮用水、教育和卫生服务覆盖率的提高。如果政府有足够的资金，就可以提供足够的公共服务。政府收入增加时，会在公共服务上投入更多，从而增加获得基本经济和社会权利的机会，从而为可持续发展目标做出贡献。政府融资的一个关键驱动因素是税收，占低收入和中低收入国家政府收入的 70%。与经合组织国家 10%的税收收入相比，非洲国家的公司所得税占税收收入的 18.8%。因此，它在可持续发展目标的进展中起着至关重要的作用。本文旨在量化一个大型纳税人（Vodafone Group Plc）的纳税额对六个非洲国家实现可持续发展目标的贡献。我们使用计量经济学模型来估计相当于 Vodafone 2007-2017 年平均纳税额的政府收入增加对实现可持续发展目标的影响。
我们发现，相当于政府收入的 Vodafone 税款对实现选定可持续发展目标的进展做出了重大贡献。我们发现，相当于 Vodafone 税款的收入使每年有 966,188 人能够获得清洁水，每年有 1,371,972 人能够获得基本卫生设施。在研究期间，858,054 名儿童多上了一年学，54,275 名五岁以下儿童和 3,655 名母亲活了下来。仅在坦桑尼亚一个国家，相当于 Vodafone 税收贡献的收入使每年有 174,121 人能够获得清洁水，每年有 223,586 人能够获得卫生设施。在研究期间，有 187,023 名儿童多上了一年学，有 6,569 名五岁以下儿童和 625 名母亲活了下来。
这些发现表明，一家跨国公司报告的捐款推动了可持续发展目标的进展。此外，它强调了透明税收的重要性，并探讨了全球机构、政府、投资者和跨国公司的责任。
