Ahead of the climate conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow later this year, a group of several activist networks – including Afrodad and Global Justice now – released a concentrated briefing on the dangerous simultaneity of the debt and climate crises.
Mohamed Nasheed warns that without restructuring, the island nation can’t afford projects to protect its land and citizens.
The World Bank and IMF are likely to announce a new debt relief initiative at COP26, tying debt relief to Green investment. At the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), DRGR-author Stephany Griffith-Jones explains our proposal as an alternative based on the Brady Plan that helped Latin America in the 1970s/80s, in which creditors would swap existing debt for guaranteed debt (with a haircut).
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As the Global South grapples with a deadly pandemic and growing climate concerns, the United Nations Development Program estimates developing countries and emerging economies owe close to $1.1 trillion in debt service payments in 2021 alone. Comprehensive debt relief is needed to avoid this looming crisis, but existing relief structures, such as the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative and Common Framework for Debt Treatments, fall short in meeting the severity of the moment.
Many middle-income countries are grappling with an unsustainable debt burden as a result of the pandemic. However, there is still no global answer to their crisis situation. Now the UN chief is also calling for extensive measures.
“Five ways to align debt with climate and development goals”: Katie Gallogly-Swan, Rebecca Ray and B. Alexander Simmons from the Boston University Global Development Policy Center published an Op-Ed on the web presence of the “World Economic Forum” quoting the DRGR project.
The South Asian nation reveals its plans to both tackle climate change and debt with green financing.
Due to its immense debt burden aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the East African country plans to approach creditors for suspension of repayments. After Ethiopia, Zambia and Chad, Uganda is another cautionary example of the debt crisis the Global South is about to face.
A recently published blueprint by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) examines the existing interventions on providing debt relief, highlighting that middle-income countries do not get the needed support to revive growth and climate action. It, therefore, proposes eligibility and condition criteria for Debt for Climate Swaps.
Prior to the virtual meeting of 40 world leaders around Earth Day, the concept of debt relief for a green and inclusive recovery played a prominent role in numerous articles. Still, the White House itself seems to have missed the opportunity to address it appropriately.