Establishing a globally agreed tax body under the auspices of the United Nations and putting an end to dubious tax avoidance activities would bolster government revenues and help finance the provision of essential public services, especially in the Global South.

The real crisis is not the influx of refugees to Europe per se but a toxic combination of destabilising foreign policy agendas, economic austerity and the rise of right-wing nationalism, which is likely to push the world further into social and political chaos in the months ahead.

Forget the SDGs. The time has come for millions of citizens in every country to collectively demand the universal realisation of basic rights – adequate food, housing, healthcare and social security for all – until governments significantly reform the global economic system to address the root causes of worsening global poverty.