On Wednesday, the Group of Seven said it was seeking $232 million in daily debt repayments from countries that were not meeting their responsibilities. To quote Oxfam’s interim executive director Amitabh Behar: “Wealthy G7 countries like to cast themselves as saviors, but what they are is operating a deadly double standard — they play by one set of rules while their former colonies are forced to play by another.” The “rich world” is responsible for compensating the “Global South” for climatic harm caused by their careless use of fossil fuels and the enormous riches that was accumulated through colonialism and slavery.
In 2009, developed nations committed to provide $100 billion yearly to vulnerable governments between 2020 and 2025 in order to help them cope with the rising severity of climate-related effects and disasters. During a conference in Hiroshima, Japan, from May 19-21, the G7 leaders are likely to reaffirm their climate targets. Developing nations argue that they cannot afford to reduce their CO2 emissions without far greater assistance from wealthier nations, who are responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Environment Ministry’s Vice Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ono Hiroshi, has announced that Japan has began disbursing the $70 billion in total finance it pledged to over the course of the five years. Hiroshi urged other nations to emulate Japan’s success in this area so that the $100 billion target might be met. According to Oxfam, the G7 leaders are convening as billions of people suffer salary cutbacks and significant price increases.
For the first time in 25 years, both extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased at the same time, the report found. According to Oxfam, the wealth of the G7’s 1,123 billionaires has increased by 45 percent in real terms over the previous decade, reaching a total of $6.5 trillion. A total of $8.7 trillion in losses and damages have been attributed to carbon emissions from high-income countries, the organization said. The obligations of the G7 must be paid. “This is not about kindness or generosity; it is a moral imperative,” Behar said.
