Global activists demand USD 5 trillion for climate justice
Several protests were organised the world over by climate activists seeking that the developed countries or Global North pay for its overwhelming share in carbon emissions
Activists worldwide organised a series of climate actions, urging Global North governments to pay USD 5 trillion annually as a down payment for their climate debt to the disproportionately affected Global South.
Several protests were organised the world over by climate activists seeking that the developed countries or Global North pay for its overwhelming share in carbon emissions that have brought climate change on the world.
According to a press statement, despite minimal responsibility, the Global South or developing countries, bear the brunt of climate impacts. Activists say that Global North governments commit to an annual payment of USD 5 trillion as an initial step to address their climate debt, viewing this compensation as crucial for justice and sustainability.
The climate activists say that wealthy countries are responsible for over 75 pc of global accumulated emissions since the start of industrialisation.
It adds that the protest actions mark the culmination of a global week of action before Climate Week NYC, urging wealthy nations to compensate for their fossil fuel consumption, which has led to rising sea levels, extreme weather and devastation in the Global South.
Lidy Nacpil
They say that Africa, Asia and Latin America, Pacific Islands & the Caribbean pay the price with lost lives, destroyed infrastructure, crop failure, landslides and ruined livelihoods.
It adds that a 2023 study estimates the Global North will owe USD 192 trillion in reparations to the Global South by 2050, with an annual climate debt of USD 5 trillion.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal
“It is unconscionable that Global North governments have continuously rejected their responsibility to deliver adequate climate finance for the Global South. If developed nations are serious about solving the problem of climate change, as they claim to be, they should agree to a climate finance target that covers the costs of mitigation, adaptation, just transition, and loss and damage. The Global South is owed trillions not billions,” says Lidy Nacpil, Co-ordinator of the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development and the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice.
Akinbode Oluwafemi
“The measures needed to decarbonise every sector, conserve and restore nature and to protect people from climate impacts, simply will not be possible without a significant and sustained uplift in finance from developed countries. If delivered on, an ambitious new finance agreement could trigger the step change in global climate and nature action needed to avoid climate catastrophe. Therefore, when people around the world take to the streets, they are doing so because they want to secure a safer, fairer and more prosperous future. Our leaders must heed their pleas and ensure that COP29 delivers on the finance needed to achieve this,” says Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead, former Minister of Environment for Peru, and COP20 President.
Gina cortés valderrama
“Ideally, payment for historical liabilities should be without debate. On the principles of fairness, equity and collective consideration, countries whose development was on the wings of carbon and at the expense of vulnerable countries in the Global South should need no force to make and increase commitment to climate finance. Since their moods are reflective of deliberate avoidance, we are committed to forcing dialogue on them,” says Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).
“For too long, climate finance has been framed as an act of benevolence from the rich to the poor. But what we truly face is an ecological crisis fuelled by imperialism and militarism, underpinned by centuries of continued colonial exploitation. At COP29 it is time to reframe climate finance as a matter of justice, not charity. The Global North owes an ecological debt, and their financial obligation must be paid up by providing grant support not more loans that trap the majority of the world in unsustainable debt that undermines human rights and force austerity measures that reduce social protections, pushing women and LGBTQIAGnC persons deeper into inequality and capitalist exploitation. Climate finance cannot continue to be a tool for control, it must be an instrument of reparative justice,” says Gina Cortés Valderrama, Co-Facilitator UNFCCC Women and Gender Constituency.
