As the world sets its sights on Belém, Brazil, for COP30, the Afro-Asian Green Forum (AA+ GF) sees a
familiar script being prepared. Once again, the nations of the Global South—those least responsible
for the climate crisis—will arrive with our survival on the line, urging the wealthy, high-emitting
nations of the Global North to finally honor their long-standing financial commitments.
But this time, the conversation must shift. We will no longer accept a narrative that treats climate
finance as mere charity. The central, unaddressed issue that poisons every negotiation is the
crushing sovereign debt that shackles our economies and paralyzes our ability to act.
The Vicious Cycle: Paying Creditors Instead of Protecting Our People
For countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the
climate crisis and the debt crisis are two sides of the same coin. This is the brutal arithmetic we face:
- Climate Shocks Drain Our Treasuries: A single cyclone, a prolonged drought, or catastrophic
flooding can wipe out years of development gains. We are forced to spend billions on emergency
relief and reconstruction—money that was earmarked for healthcare, education, and infrastructure. - Borrowing to Survive: With our budgets devastated, we have no choice but to take on new, often
expensive debt to rebuild our shattered communities and economies. - The Debt Trap Tightens: A significant portion of our national revenue now goes not to climate-
resilient infrastructure or a just energy transition, but to servicing external debt. We are literally
paying our historical polluters for the privilege of drowning and burning. This is not a hypothetical.
We are forced to choose between building a sea wall and paying interest to an international bank.
This is an immoral choice that no nation should ever have to make.
COP30: The Debt-Climate Nexus Must Be Center Stage
The old promises of $100 billion per year in climate finance—a target still not fully met—are now
grossly inadequate. At COP30, the Global South must unite around a clear and non-negotiable
demand: integrate debt relief with climate action.
We propose a concrete, four-pronged approach for the COP30 agenda: - A substantial portion of the external debt of the most vulnerable countries must be cancelled
outright. This would instantly free up fiscal space for national adaptation plans, renewable energy
projects, and loss and damage funds. - Debt-for-clature swaps, where a portion of a nation’s debt is forgiven in exchange for verified
investments in climate mitigation and adaptation, must be moved from pilot projects to a standard,
large-scale instrument. - The solution to a debt crisis cannot be more debt. The primary vehicle for new climate finance,
particularly for adaptation, must be grants. We demand a new, fit-for-purpose financial architecture
that does not perpetuate the cycle of indebtedness. - We call upon the leaders of the Global South countries at the COP30 Summit to issue a decisive
and clear declaration to halt the export of all primary raw materials from our countries, except at
manufacturing ratios that achieve technological balance for our peoples with the countries of the
North. This action would limit the trade of fossil fuels as a false source of income for our countries in
the South, which is used to pay for even harsher and less beneficial
Our Message to the Polluters of the Global North
Your inaction has financed this crisis. Your emissions are the collateral against which we have
unwittingly taken out a loan of survival. It is time to settle this ecological debt.
The forests of the Amazon, the Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia—the lungs of our planet—are
largely in our care. The biodiversity that sustains all life is preserved within our borders. But this
stewardship comes at a cost to our own development. We cannot be expected to be the guardians
of the global commons while being financially strangled.
COP30 in the Global South is more than a conference; it is a reckoning. We are not coming to Belém
to beg. We are asserting that climate justice is economic justice. The sword of Damocles hanging
over our heads, forged in the factories and fueled by the lifestyles of the North, must be removed.
Our collective future depends on it.
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The AA+ Green Forum (Voices from the South) is a non-governmental organization (under
establishment) dedicated to amplifying green perspectives from the Global South.
