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MORE
than 90 civil-society organizations (CSOs) have drawn up
a seven-point agenda for the Group of Eight (G-8)
countries that seek to address the “twin tsunamis” that
plague the world today—the food and climate-change
crises.
The CSOs
are urging G-8 countries to address the twin crises by
canceling all illegitimate debt of developing countries;
stop donor countries and agencies from financing
projects and supporting policies that contribute to
climate change; support the efforts of South countries
to reverse harmful policies that have contributed to the
food crisis; and ban speculation on food prices.
The
groups also urged the G-8 countries to end the practice
of using loans and debt cancellation to impose
conditionalities; to pay restitution and reparations for
the ecological debts owed to South countries; and
facilitate the return of stolen assets kept in banks
based in G-8 countries.
“The
payment of huge amounts of debt service amplifies the
effects of the food and climate crises and hampers the
ability of countries and peoples of the South to deal
with these crises. This is part of the injustice of the
debt, and for this alone, debt cancellation is urgent,”
the CSOs said in a members-signed statement.
“But the
debt is more than just the problem of losing much-needed
resources to debt payments. Debts which were used for
harmful projects or to impose harmful conditionalities,
such as those which contributed to the food and climate
crises—these are illegitimate debts and should not be
paid,” it added.
The CSOs
said that while high oil prices and worsening climate
conditions and market speculation in international and
domestic food trading have significantly contributed to
the food crisis, problems could also be traced to
policies and projects implemented by countries on the
behest of loan-extending countries and multilateral
institutions.
Such
harmful policies based on conditions set by the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had
resulted in the decrease in productivity in agriculture
and the steep increase in food-production costs, as well
as contributed to the reduction in available
agricultural land and in less sustainable agricultural
practices. “The G-8 governments bear primary
responsibility for the debt burden and the debt-related
policy conditionalities that contributed to the food
crisis and magnify its impacts,” the CSOs said. “They
should act immediately and decisively for the
cancellation of all illegitimate debts. The imposition
of conditionalities through loans debt and debt
cancellation must stop.”
The CSOs
said G-8 governments also share responsibility for other
factors behind the crisis and should take part in
regulating corporations and investors, should ban
speculation on food and stop unfair trade agreements.
The G-8
governments also bear primary responsibility for the
climate crisis since half of the world’s green house-gas
emissions come from G-8 countries, and most G-8
countries approved environmentally hazardous projects,
the group added.
The CSOs
said the World Bank approved more than 133 financial
packages for oil, coal and gas extraction projects worth
$28 billion; the Asian Development Bank, to which Japan
and the United States are the biggest shareholders, is a
major lender to coal, oil and gas projects in Asia,
approving close to $2 billion worth of loan packages
since the year 2000.
“The G-8
governments are not only promoting false solutions
through the different facilities under the auspices of
these international financial institutions, they are
intending to finance these through loans, thus adding to
the debt burden of developing countries.”
The CSOs
said G-8 countries should extend loans for climate
mitigation and adaptation and begin with the recognition
of the ecological debt that they owe the countries and
peoples of the South.
These
funds, the CSOs said, should be managed by democratic
and accountable institutions. G-8 countries should also
finance climate mitigation and adaptation in South
countries as restitution for damage caused by
environmentally destructive projects and policies
supported by G-8 countries. |
