{"id":235900,"date":"2023-05-29T12:01:43","date_gmt":"2023-05-29T11:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=235900"},"modified":"2023-05-23T04:06:13","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T03:06:13","slug":"g7-owes-the-poor-13-trillion-in-unmet-pledges-meanwhile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/05\/g7-owes-the-poor-13-trillion-in-unmet-pledges-meanwhile\/","title":{"rendered":"G7 Owes the Poor $13 Trillion in Unmet Pledges. Meanwhile\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

22 May 2023 – <\/em>Two shocking findings have just been revealed: the G7 countries owe low- and middle-income countries a huge US$ 13.3 trillion in unpaid aid and funding for climate action, at a time when one billion people now face cholera risk, precisely because of the staggering reduction and even non-payment of committed assistance.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This money could otherwise be spent on healthcare, education, gender equality and social protection, as well as addressing the impacts of climate change, says Oxfam. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo\/IPS<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Such an inhuman reality also reveals that the G7 (Group of the seven wealthiest countries), who represent just 10% of the world\u2019s population, continue to demand the Global South to pay 232 million USD \u2013a day\u2013 in debt repayments through 2028, on 17 May 2023 revealed<\/a> a new analysis from Oxfam<\/a> ahead of the G7.<\/p>\n

This is the amount of interest and debt repayment that the mid and low-income nations \u2013including the 46 Least Developed Countries (LDC5<\/a>)\u2013 have to continue transferring -every single day\u2013 for the total 10 trillion USD they have been forced to borrow from rich states, private banks and financial corporations.<\/p>\n

The findings<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

The Group of Seven (G7) countries owe low- and middle-income countries a huge 13.3 trillion in unpaid aid and funding for climate action, according<\/a> to an Oxfam<\/a> new analysis launched ahead of the G7 (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, and Canada) Summit in Hiroshima, Japan<\/a> (May 19- 21, 2023).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis money could otherwise be spent on healthcare, education, gender equality and social protection, as well as addressing the impacts of climate change,\u201d adds this global movement of people fighting inequality, working in 70 countries, with thousands of partners and allies.<\/p>\n

The Group of Seven (G7) countries owe low- and middle-income countries a huge 13.3 trillion in unpaid aid and funding for climate action, according to an Oxfam new analysis launched ahead of the G7 (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, and Canada) Summit in Hiroshima, Japan (May 19- 21, 2023).<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, cholera threatens one billion humans<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

Such a huge G7 country\u2019s debt to the Global South in their unmet aid pledges would be vitally needed to save the lives of up to one billion people in 43 countries now facing cholera risk amid a \u2018bleak\u2019 outlook, asreported<\/a> by World Health Organization (WHO<\/a>) and the UN Children Fund (UNICEF<\/a>) on 19 May 2023.<\/p>\n

In their new alert, the two specialised organisations said that more countries now face outbreaks, increasing numbers of cases are being reported and the outcome for patients is worse than 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

After years of steady decline, cholera is making a \u201cdevastating comeback and targeting the world\u2019s most vulnerable communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Killing the poor in plain sight<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe pandemic is killing the poor right in front of us,\u201d said J\u00e9r\u00f4me Pfaffmann Zambruni, Head of UNICEF\u2019s Public Health Emergency unit.<\/p>\n

Echoing the bleak outlook, WHO data indicates that by May 2022, 15 countries had reported cases, but by mid-May this year 2023 \u201cwe already have 24 countries reporting and we anticipate more with the seasonal shift in cholera cases,\u201d said Henry Gray, WHO\u2019s Incident Manager for the global cholera response.<\/p>\n

Cholera cases spiking<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cDespite advances in the control of the disease made in the previous decades we risk going backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN health agency estimates that one billion people in 43 countries are at risk of cholera with children under five particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cCholera\u2019s extraordinarily high mortality ratio is also alarming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Southeastern Africa is particularly badly affected, with infections spreading in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Deadly combination<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

A deadly combination of climate change, underinvestment in water, sanitation and hygiene services \u2013 and in some cases armed conflict \u2013 has led to the spread of the disease, said the two UN agencies.<\/p>\n

Despite these and so many other threats facing the most vulnerable countries, the wealthy G7 states continue to drastically cut their committed aid, while causing the largest impacts of their highly lucrative addiction to fossil fuels, one of the main causes of the current climate emergency.<\/p>\n

Wealth \u201cbuilt on colonialism and slavery\u201d<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cWealthy G7 countries like to cast themselves as saviours but what they are is operating a deadly double standard \u2014they play by one set of rules while their former colonies are forced to play by another,\u201d said Oxfam International interim Executive Director Amitabh Behar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the rich world that owes the Global South. The aid they promised decades ago but never gave. The huge costs of climate damage caused by their reckless burning of fossil fuels. The immense wealth built on colonialism and slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n

G7 Owes the Poor $13 Trillion in Unmet Pledges. \u201cThis money could have been transformational,\u201d said Behar. \u201cIt could have paid for children to go to school, hospitals and life-saving medicines, improving access to water, better roads, agriculture and food security, and so much more. The G7 must pay its due.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In fact, already in 2020, the G7 countries accounted for more than 50% of global net wealth, estimated at over 200 trillion USD.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach and every day, the Global South pays hundreds of millions of dollars to the G7 and their rich bankers. This has to stop. It\u2019s time to call the G7\u2019s hypocrisy for what it is: an attempt to dodge responsibility and maintain the neo-colonial status quo,\u201d said Behar.<\/p>\n

Billions of poor\u2026 and hungry<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

The G7 leaders are meeting at a moment where billions of workers face real-term pay cuts and impossible rises in the prices of basics like food. Global hunger has risen for a fifth consecutive year, while extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased simultaneously for the first time in 25 years, reports<\/a> OXFAM.<\/p>\n

Despite a commitment last month from the G7 to phase out fossil fuels faster, Germany is now pushing for G7 leaders to endorse public investment in gas, the human solidarity movement further explains<\/a>.<\/p>\n

G7 owes the poor $9 trillion for their climate devastation<\/b><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt has been estimated that the G7 owes low- and middle-income countries $8.7 trillion for the devastating losses and damages their excessive carbon emissions have caused, especially in the Global South.\u201d<\/p>\n

G7 governments are also collectively failing to meet a long-standing promise by rich countries to provide $100 billion per year from 2020 to 2025 to help poorer countries cope with climate change, it adds.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, \u201cIn 1970, rich countries agreed to provide 0.7 percent of their gross national income in aid. Since then, G7 countries have left unpaid a total of $4.49 trillion to the world\u2019s poorest countries \u2014more than half of what was promised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will this 10% of the world\u2019s population ever meet its pledges to the 90% of all humans on Earth? What do you think?<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Baher Kamal, <\/em>a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>, <\/em>is an Egyptian-born, Spanish national, secular journalist, with over 45 years of professional experience \u2014 from reporter to special envoy to chief editor of national dailies and an international news agency. Baher is former <\/em>Senior Advisor<\/a> <\/em>to the Director General of the international news agency IPS (Inter Press Service)<\/a> and he also contributed to prestigious magazines such as <\/em>TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a>, GEO, Muy Interesante, and<\/em> Natura, Spain<\/em>. He is also publisher and editor of<\/em> Human Wrongs Watch.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 human-wrongs-watch.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The G7 countries owe low- and middle-income countries US$ 13.3 trillion in unpaid aid and funding for climate action when one billion people risk cholera because of the reduction and non-payment of committed assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":67245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1397],"class_list":["post-235900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members","tag-g7"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235901,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235900\/revisions\/235901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}