LONDON, (Reuters) – Governments must take immediate action to combat rising inequality that emerged from the COVID-19 crises. This was due to a spike in food and energy prices which has increased pressure on many millions around the globe. Oxfam stated Monday.

This report was released by the Nairobi-based charity at the arrival of top policy makers, industry heads and other leaders to Davos in Switzerland for the annual meeting the World Economic Forum (WEF). It revealed that billionaires have increased by 573 percent to under 2,700 as of 2020.

According to Forbes data, their cumulative wealth had increased from $3.8 trillion up to $12.7 trillion. The soaring commodities prices brought a huge increase in revenue to the food and energy sectors.

Oxfam warned that COVID-19, increasing inequality, and rising food costs could cause extreme poverty for as many 263,000,000 people in 2022.

The report’s authors stated that “Millions are in a crisis of cost of living due to continuing effects from the pandemic as well as the rapidly increasing costs of essentials such food, energy and water.”

“Inequality has reached new heights, which was already severe before COVID-19.”

The pandemic caused by weather problems and COVID-19 disruptions led to food prices rising. However, they rose again after Russia invaded Ukraine which disrupted oil and grain supplies.

According to the World Bank, an extreme poor person is one who lives on less than $1.90 per day.

The report stated that “the single most pressing and structural action governments should take is to implement progressive taxation that, in turn, must be used for investing in proven and powerful measures to reduce inequality such as universal health care and social protection.”

The WEF, based in Geneva, says that the meeting will be held for the first-ever time in more than two years thanks to COVID-19. It will include over 2,000 experts and leaders from all around the globe, a smaller number than previous meetings.