Many African and Global South nations have been exploited by wealthier countries that have been extracting their resources for years without fair compensation. Countries in the Global North continue to take wealth from nations they had once colonized. Estimates of the value of the resources taken are currently on the order of USD 2.2 trillion per year.
Under neocolonialism, loans and debt are used as a tool of oppression. Global South countries have incurred large amounts of debt, some of which was needed to pay for climate damage that these nations had little or no responsibility for causing. Many loans from wealthy nations have required Global South countries to spend the borrowed funds purchasing goods and services from the donor nation for projects approved by the donor nation—resulting, for example, in coal-fired power plants or roads to service oil infrastructure that profited the donor nation and left the recipient nation more in debt.
Payment of theses debts, including debt owed to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), continues to drain resources from the Global South, leaving them far less resources for basic human services and no resource to eliminate current emissions (for example by transitioning to renewable energy), adapt to the effects of climate change, or pay for the immense loss and damage caused by climate change.
We will take a deep dive look at Ghana to illustrate what has happened to countries in Africa and the Global South.
Finally, we will address what citizens and organizations in the Global North can do to help address the debt crisis so that countries in Africa and the Global South can have the funds to provide solid human services and also to address climate change.
At the conclusion of the 90 minute workshop, there will be a 60-minute healing circle in which participants will have the opportunity to process what has been heard and to express their thoughts and feelings related to the topic in small groups.
followed by Healing Circle (optional)
3:00 – 4:00pm (New York/EDT)
Healing circles based on shared experiences give people a chance to be listened to about feelings connected to climate change. Having the chance to share feelings of grief, fear, anger, discouragement, and hope in a mutually supportive group can refresh us and give us new ideas for action.
