By Marshall Bwanya
The SADC People’s Summit, a gathering of civil society organizations, community leaders, and citizens from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, has issued a resounding call for a robust, equitable, and just climate debt policy.
This policy would require developed countries in the Global North to pay US$5 trillion annually to the Global South for climate change mitigation.
The summit, held concurrently with the official SADC Heads of State Summit, focused on the theme “Reclaiming SADC for People’s Development: Building People Power, Voice, and Agency towards Democracy and Inclusion.”
During a dedicated climate change session on Thursday, seasoned civil society leader and human rights defender Sydney Chisi emphasized the urgent need for a climate debt policy that acknowledges the historical responsibility of developed nations for the climate crisis.
Chisi underscored the stark disparity between the Global North and South, highlighting how Western industrialization over the past 300 years has disproportionately contributed to greenhouse gas emissions while reaping immense economic benefits.
Developing countries, on the other hand, are bearing the brunt of climate change impacts despite having minimal contributions to the crisis.
“The fundamental aspect that we need to understand is that climate debt and climate justice aspects require one fundamental thing, change, not only change as an in our appreciation of climate change but also we need to offer and profer leadership as civil societies and also as governments.
“To say, how do we identify the enemy who has made is to be where we are right now,” said Chisi.
“The first understanding we need to look at the present moment, is that we faced with two emerging crises within the world and those two emerging crises are one, climate change at one end and also the emerging and extension of debt in itself.
“If you look at the Global South countries, at the end of the day you will find out that history has taken us to an understanding that for 300 years of industrialisation the Global North has been emitting unabated without any mitigation strategy,” added Chisi.
Chisi argued that the Global North’s claim of insufficient resources for development and climate finance is fundamentally and disingenuous.
During Covid-19 pandemic, the Global North governments mobilized an astounding US$16 trillion in fiscal stimulus to support their economies.
Additionally the G7 spent over US$1 trillion annually funding wars and conflicts globally.
Chisi, said this clearly demonstrates that the resources exist and they are just being allocated based on political will and priorities.
“If trillions can be found for pandemic relief and military expenditures, the same financial commitment must be made to address the existential threat of climate change,” said Chisi.
“And they (Global North) have built up their economies not only on emissions but based on cheap labour that was coming from the Global South and now we have moved so many years later we are now beginning to feel the impact.
“However, when it comes to issues of adaptation, when it comes to issues of resilience building you will find that the Global North is much ready than all of us.
Chisi cited the devastating impacts of climate-related disasters such as Cyclone Idai in 2018 and the 2022 Durban floods, which disproportionately affected SADC countries.
He contrasted these experiences with the relatively mild climate impacts felt in developed nations, emphasizing the gross inequity in vulnerability and resilience.
“Go back to 2018 cyclone Idai, it hit Malawi, it hit Zimbabwe and it hit Mozambique,” said Chisi.
“The rain bomb in Durban of 2022, all those effects were never felt in London, I mean when you look at those news and people are complaining in Europe saying its hot, what are the temperatures it’s 35 degrees.
“I mean go to Beitbridge, go to the limpopo region, go to Churundi, those are the daily temperatures to which people live with.
“But the moment that temperatures in Europe get to 35 degrees there is whole Global panic, it’s like the whole world is burning, so that they need the money to ensure that they can cover themselves and we can’t,” said Chisi.
