2023-09-21 03:10:00
Civil Association for Equality and Justice (ACIJ), Oxfam and the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (OPINION).
Buenos Aires
On Thursday, September 28, we will present the report “Naphtha on fire. Debt and climate change in Argentina”, through the Zoom platform.
The payment of public debt in Latin America and the Caribbean represents around 91% of total social spending (education, health and social protection). According to Latindadd data from 2021, prioritization in debt payment pressured countries in the global south to continue investing in extractive sectors, delaying the energy transition towards low-carbon models and generating conflicts in the territory and negative impacts at a socio-environmental level. .
Argentina is not the exception. The need to repay the debt in foreign currency has put pressure on to sustain the overexploitation of natural resources and promote investments in extractive and agroindustrial sectors. The deficit reduction proposed by the IMF does not contemplate any debt relief, not even under an exchange scheme for climate action, which would allow resources to be redirected in accordance with the emergencies that the country is experiencing. The economies of the global periphery are the most affected by the recurrence of extreme climate events, such as the last drought in Argentina. On the other hand, the States of developed countries have a responsibility for this situation and have committed insufficient funds that they fail to disburse. This reinforces the use of debt as a mechanism for climate actions, which worsens over-indebtedness and the vicious circle with environmental degradation and inequalities.
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