You’ll hear a lot in the news this week about a special summit being held in Paris on the climate and debt crises.  

The ‘Summit for a New Global Financing Pact’ is being organised by French President Emmanual Macron. Bringing together over 50 world leaders it promises to ‘lay the groundwork for a new financial system, one that is fairer and more solidarity-based.’  

But will world leaders actually step up to the plate and deliver the debt cancellation and funding lower income countries urgently need? Spoiler alert: we think not. 

We all know that the climate and debt crises are two sides of the same coin. And you can’t solve the climate crisis without cancelling debt.  

The 54 countries in debt crisis are spending five times more on paying debts to lenders like big banks and hedge funds than they are on addressing the climate crisis. And what’s worse, many countries are being forced to exploit their natural resources, including fossil fuels to pay off debts.  

Lower income countries need real solutions now, like debt cancellation and a new law which will help make sure they can’t be exploited by big lenders like the financial giant Blackrock.  

Instead, we’re worried all that’s on the table will be more loans and no new funding to cope with climate disasters like floods and hurricanes.

We’ll be at the summit all this week to campaign alongside our allies for real solutions to the climate and debt crises, like a new law to make sure lenders like big banks and hedge funds can’t hold lower income countries to ransom. You can add your voice by writing to your MP.

We’ll be in touch after the summit to let you know what happened and later in the year with more ways we can build power together to make sure lower income countries get the debt cancellation they urgently need.  

In solidarity and hope,  

Tess, Jerome, Eva and the whole team at Debt Justice