A new analysis from Oxfam revealed that wealthy Group of Seven (G7) countries owe low- and middle-income countries $13.3 trillion in unpaid aid and funding for climate action.
The report comes ahead of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
Despite failing to pay what they owe, G7 countries and their rich bankers are demanding that Global South countries pay $232 million a day in debt repayments through 2028.
“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.” said Oxfam International interim Executive Director Amitabh Behar.
“It’s the rich world that owes the Global South. The aid they promised decades ago but never gave. The huge costs from climate damage caused by their reckless burning of fossil fuels. The immense wealth built on colonialism and slavery.”
The G7 leaders are meeting at a moment where billions of workers face real-term pay cuts and impossible rises in the prices of basics like food, Oxfam said.
"Global hunger has risen for a fifth consecutive year, while extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased simultaneously for the first time in 25 years."
In 1970, rich countries agreed to provide 0.7 percent of their gross national income (GNI) in aid. "Since then, G7 countries left unpaid a total of $4.49 trillion to the world’s poorest countries —more than half of what was promised."
“This money could have been transformational,” said Behar. “It could have paid for children to go to school, hospitals and life-saving medicines, improving access to water, better roads, agriculture and food security, and so much more. The G7 must pay its due. This isn’t about benevolence or charity —it’s a moral obligation.”
