Protesters call for climate action and debt elimination before the UN conference
Sunday, on the day of a UN summit on financing development that detractors claim lacks ambition and scope, activists marched through the southern Spanish city of Seville in the sweltering heat, demanding debt forgiveness, climate justice, and a tax on the super-rich.
The four-day gathering, which takes place once every ten years, aims to address poverty, illness, and climate change by outlining the global development framework. However, expectations that the summit would result in meaningful change have been tempered by the United States’ decision to withdraw, opens a new tab, and wealthy nations’ declining desire for foreign aid.
A float representing billionaire Elon Musk as a baby sitting on a terrestrial globe with a chainsaw was carried by Greenpeace members. Banners with the words “Make Polluters Pay,” “Tax justice now,” or “Make Human Rights Great Again” were displayed by others.
According to Beauty Narteh of Ghana’s Anti-Corruption Coalition, her organization favored “dignity, not handouts” and a more equitable tax structure.
The public and commercial sectors were urged to be “less selfish and show more solidarity” with poor nations by Sokhna Ndiaye, who is a member of the Africa Development Institute.
However, just a few hours prior, Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain, stated that “there is reason for optimism given that this conference is taking place during a time of global conflict.”
Sanchez reaffirmed Madrid’s pledge to provide development contributions equal to 0.7% of GDP and urged other nations to follow suit while speaking at an event hosted by the non-profit Global Citizen.
According to Jason Braganza, executive director of the pan-African advocacy group AFRODAD, who participated in the year-long negotiation on the conference’s final outcome document, nations such as the United States, the European Union, and Britain have impeded attempts to organize a United Nations convention on sovereign debt.
“It’s a shame these countries have opted to protect their own interests and those of creditors over lives that are being lost,” he stated.
