On Friday 20 September the UK Student Climate Network calls on ‘adults, workers, community groups, trade unionists, nurses, teachers, steel workers, car manufacturers, waiters and everyone else in between’ to join a global general climate strike.
Climate breakdown threatens us all and the most harsh impacts are already being felt in the global south. It is horrendously unjust that people who have done the least to cause the climate crisis are suffering from the greenhouse gas emissions of rich people and countries.
Many small states like the Caribbean and Pacific islands have very low historic and per capita emissions, but are on the front line of worsening extreme storms and flooding. Just this month thousands of people fled the islands hit by Hurricane Dorian which killed at least 43 people.
On top of this, many of the world’s poorest nations are struggling with legacies of economic exploitation and unjust debts. When climate disasters like hurricanes hit they wipe out homes, schools, hospitals, businesses and vital infrastructure like roads and pipes for water and sewage. And then because rich countries are not delivering on their climate finance commitments, countries hit by disasters have no option but to borrow to rebuild, taking on additional debts.
Climate-fuelled disasters are becoming more and more frequent, and many of the countries affected face a double whammy of debt and climate disaster, sometimes taking on new debt to cope with the aftermath. That’s why we’re calling for debt write-off, including specific mechanisms for small Island states.
Solidarity with the #climatestrike and justice for people on the frontlines of climate breakdown.