The debt collectors are here: “Pay developing countries what you owe!” climate activists tell polluters

In matching ‘debt collector’ outfits and holding up a banner that read “Rich countries pay your climate debt”, along with a 10m-long giant itemised ‘invoice’ addressed to developed countries, climate activists at COP29 demanded that rich countries pay for the costs of the climate crisis. 

Climate activists called for rich counties at COP29 to agree a new climate finance goal to repay developing countries, who have been dealing with the costs of loss and damage, adaptation and mitigation for years, even though they are not the nations that have caused the crisis. 

Agnes Schim Van Der Loeff, ActionAid Netherlands, said:

With only a few days left in this finance COP, rich polluting countries must step up and pay up. We’ve brought them an invoice showing how countries in the Global South are already bearing the highest costs of the climate crisis, a crisis that they did little to cause. Climate finance is not charity, and it is not optional. Climate finance is essential to safeguard a liveable planet for all, and it is a debt that developed countries owe to the Global South. We are here to collect that debt" 

Erica Njuguna, ANGRY, said: 

Kenya is facing severe impacts as a result of the climate crisis. Women and queer people from economically exploited backgrounds were the most affected by a crisis they had the least role in causing. All these whilst historical polluters from the Global North refuse to take responsibility for loss & damage, and fail to pay up for adaptation and mitigation. The Global North says it doesn’t have money, yet each year we see money flowing to the fossil fuel industry through subsidies and for wars. History has taught us it is not a lack of finance. It is misplaced priorities!”  

 Armayanti Sanusi, Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, said:

The Global North owes us trillions, not billions, in climate finance. We are not begging for aid or charity, we are demanding reparations for the death and devastation caused by the Global North’s carbon emissions. At COP29, we urge Global North governments to take responsibility for their historical and current emissions and deliver $5 trillion a year in public and grant-based climate finance" 

Flora Vano, ActionAid Vanuatu, said:  

In the community I live in, everyday a mother worries about ‘what if’. What if flash flooding comes and sweeps away one of her kids while on her way to or from school? What if a landslide happens when they are doing gardening? While we are here (at COP29), we want to make sure that wealthy nations think of small island states, communities that are facing hardships and don’t have the means of rebuilding back better with cyclone-proof houses and food storage that can last us through the multiple disasters we face. We need the funds to help us recover and cope and build better lives. Without the funds, we will keep on suffering.” 

Susan Otieno, ActionAid Kenya, said:

African countries are demanding climate justice. The Global South needs between $1 and $5 trillion every year for adaptation, mitigation and Loss and Damage. We need these funds in grants, not loans, as African countries are already drowning in debt, which they have incurred trying to cope with the climate crisis. Rich nations should take responsibility, commit to and honour their pledges. The process should not abort in its final stages.”