Do No Harm.
Are your personal or corporate tax payments contributing to humanitarian crises around the world?
We can help you offset them.
What are humanitarian offsets?
Humanitarian offsets are an attempt to compensate the undesired humanitarian consequences that arise from human activity and spending.
Individuals and corporates pay humanitarian offsets to try to compensate for the harm that they have contributed to. Whenever possible, these payments should be made in support of the individuals and societies that have been harmed.
Why do tax payments require a humanitarian offset?
Most man-made humanitarian crises are related to armed conflicts which are funded in part by taxpayers in democratic societies - either directly through the military interventions of democratic governments, or indirectly through military aid provided to other countries.
Every attempt needs to be made to rectify the humanitarian costs and losses that arise from armed conflict, whether or not the armed conflict is itself justified.
Shouldn’t the government be offsetting the humanitarian costs of its actions itself?
Should they? Yes.
Do they? No.
We account for international aid in our calculations, but aid typically accounts for only a small fraction of the damage caused.
Why is it my responsibility to take action if my government is not acting responsibly?
We believe that taxpayers in democratic societies - whether individuals or corporations - are ultimately responsible for how their tax payments are used. After all, it’s their money and it’s being spent by their elected government.
We encourage citizens and taxpayers to make every effort to influence government spending, but such efforts do not absolve tax payers from the consequences of their tax payments.
Can humanitarian costs truly be offset?
No.
No amount of spending can undo the loss of life. No amount of spending can ever compensate a mother for the loss of her child. No amount of spending can ever undo the mental suffering that accompanies war.
Humanitarian offsets are the bare minimum that can be done, and can never fully offset or balance out the humanitarian costs.
How much do I owe? Who do I owe it to? What should I do now?
Those are the right questions - and we’re working to help you answer them. Subscribe below to stay informed.
How can I help?
If you’d like to get involved, send an email to info@humanitarianoffsets.org
We’re especially interested in talking to humanitarians and economists who can help us refine and apply our humanitarian offset calculation methodology.