#PAYUP 5 TRILLION AS PAYMENT TOWARDS THE CLIMATE DEBT!
This statement was originally published by Islamic Relief Worldwide.
The Global North owes an incalculable climate debt to the Global South, stemming from their cumulative historical and continuing greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting climate crisis. This climate debt is part of a larger historical, social, economic, and ecological debt owed to the Global South, arising from centuries of colonial and postcolonial exploitation and oppression.
On July 25, movements and civil society organizations will be launching a campaign demanding Global North governments to pay US$5 trillion a year in public funds as a down payment for their Climate Debt.
These governments claim they do not have the sufficient public funds to deliver on their financial obligations to the Global South while spending trillions on fossil fuel subsidies and military infrastructure and operations. Instead of addressing tax abuses of huge multinational corporations that are global polluters and profiteers, they advance global tax deals favoring the rich. At a time when public funds are desperately needed for peoples’ needs and rights, Global North governments refuse to respond to the clamor for the cancellation of public debts in the South which they, together with their elites and corporations, bear the biggest responsibility for, and instead promote failed, flawed, and futile debt reduction measures and offer more loans. In recent years, the unjust and inequitable global economic and financial architecture which they perpetuate — legacies of colonialism — has caused an annual net resource transfer from the South to the North in the trillions.
This is a pivotal year to raise our claims for the payment of Climate Debt. In the lead-up to–and during–COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Climate Finance will be a central issue in the international climate space. These next months will offer crucial opportunities that will either propel us toward the radical transformation needed in our social, economic, and political systems or doom us to climate chaos. Delay is not an option — we need to unite and increase pressure on all fronts to ensure decisive action.
Join us in the launching of this campaign through digital actions on July 25 carrying on to July 26. Our actions will coincide with the Heads of Delegation retreat happening in Baku, from July 26 to 28. The campaign launch will be followed by key moments in the next months when we will be holding globally coordinated mobilizations including a Global Week of Action in September during the period of the UNGA and the Summit of the Future.
