What is the Global Justice Project?

The Global Justice Project (GJP) is a collective research initiative developed by the World Inequality Lab.

Combining comparative historical data series from the World Inequality Database with global input-output tables, environmental accounts, labour force surveys and other sources, the project explores what a just distribution of socio-economic and environmental resources could look like at the global level from 2025 to 2100 – both between and within countries – in a way that is compatible with planetary boundaries.

The project partly builds on the analysis and proposals set out in Thomas Piketty’s Brief History of Equality, extending them into a broader and more comprehensive global framework.

What are the goals?

The centrepiece of the GJP will be “global convergence” scenarios that combine two key goals:

1. Socio-economic equality: Full economic convergence between countries, full gender equality in labour hours and pay, sharp compression of within country income scale and wealth scale, combined with fair access to education, healthcare and effective participation in all aspects of social, economic, cultural and political life.

2. Planetary habitability: Aligning global resource use within ecological boundaries, accounting for carbon budgets and raw material constraints.

How to achieve these goals?

The GJP envisages a radical transformation of the global production system and international economic arrangements over the 21st century. This would entail not only a re-structuring of the sectoral and gender composition of labour time and rapid reduction of carbon, material intensities of production, but also a strong shift towards more equal terms of international trade and monetary exchange.

To support critical investments in human capital as well as climate mitigation and adaptation, particularly in the Global South, the GJP proposes a Global Justice Fund, to be financed by the global rich and through a radical transformation of the international financial and monetary regime.

Who is involved?

The project is coordinated by Lucas Chancel, Cornelia Mohren, Rowaida Moshrif, Moritz Odersky, Thomas Piketty, and Anmol Somanchi.

Other participants to the project include:

Raavi Aggarwal, Marie Andreescu, Manuel Arias-Osorio, Oscar Barrera, Luis Bauluz, Thomas Bezy, Nitin Bharti, Philipp Bothe, Pierre Brassac, Julia Cagé, Jonas Dietrich, Dima El Hariri, Alice Fauvel, Ignacio Flores, Valentina Gabrielli, Amory Gethin, Ricardo Gomes-Carrera, Sehyun Hong, Thanasak Jenmana, Romaine Loubes, Clara Martinez-Toledano, Zhexun Mo, Stella Mutti, Theresa Neef, Gaston Nievas, Anne-Sophie Robilliard, Emmanuel Saez, Alice Sodano, Li Yang, Gabriel Zucman, Alvaro Zuniga.

Timeline

  • December 2024 to May 2026: Publication, circulation and revision of GJP research papers and technical notes
  • June 2026 (date TBC): Launch of the Global Justice Report: A Plan for Equality & Prosperity within Planetary Boundaries in 2100 at the World Inequality Conference, Paris School of Economics

GJP Research Papers

“Global Labour Hours in Paid and Unpaid Work: Productivity and Structural Transformation, 1800-2100”, Marie Andreescu, Romaine Loubes, Thomas Piketty, Anne-Sophie Robilliard, WIL WP 2025/08 (May 2025)

“Unequal Exchange and North-South Relations: Evidence from Global Trade Flows and the World Balance of Payments 1800-2025”, Gaston Nievas, Thomas Piketty (in-progress; target publication date: June 2025)

“Human Capital, Unequal Opportunities and Productivity Convergence: A Global Historical Perspective, 1800-2100″, Nitin Bharti, Amory Gethin, Thanasak Jenmana, Zhexun Mo, Thomas Piketty, Li Yang (in-progress; target publication date: July 2025)

“Global Wealth Accumulation and Ownership Patterns, 1800-2025”, Luis Bauluz, Pierre Brassac, Clara Martinez-Toledano, Gaston Nievas, Thomas Piketty, Alice Sodano, Anmol Somanchi (in-progress; target publication date: August 2025)

“Equality and Development: A Comparative & Historical Perspective 1800-2025”, Manuel Arias-Osorio, Luis Bauluz, Ignacio Flores, Ricardo Gomes-Carrera, Sehyun Hong, Clara Martinez-Toledano, Zhexun Mo, Rowaida Moshrif, Thomas Piketty, Anmol Somanchi (in-progress; target publication date: September 2025)

 “Planetary Habitability, Global Convergence and Structural Transformation, 2030-2100”, Lucas Chancel, Cornelia Mohren, Moritz Odersky, Thomas Piketty, Anmol Somanchi (in-progress; target publication date: October 2025)

“Global Justice: Central Scenario & Variants 2025-2100” (all GJP participants) (in-progress; target publication date: November 2025)

“Political Strategies: Coping with Winners & Losers from Global Justice 2030-2100”, Oscar Barrera, Julia Cagé, Lucas Chancel, Amory Gethin, Clara Martinez-Toledano, Thomas Piketty, Anmol Somanchi, Alvaro Zuniga (in-progress; target publication date: February 2026)

GJP Technical Notes

“Extending WID Population Series: Projections 2024-2100 and Age/Gender Breakdowns”, Ricardo Gomez-Carrera, Rowaida Moshrif, Gaston Nievas, Anmol Somanchi (WIL TN 2024/12) (December 2024)

“Extending WID National Accounts Series: Institutional Sectors and Factor Shares”, Jonas Dietrich, Gaston Nievas, Moritz Odersky, Thomas Piketty, Anmol Somanchi (in-progress; target publication date: June 2025)

How to Contribute?

  • To stay updated on new publications, events, and upcoming releases, join the mailing list.
  • For research collaborations, feedback or academic enquiries, contact:
    Anmol Somanchi, GJP Coordinator/Lead Author – anmol.smnch[at]protonmail.com
  • For press or policy-related questions, contact:
    Alice Fauvel, WIL Communication Manager – alice.fauvel[at]psemail.eu