Vatican urges debt cancellation for small island states

A general view show people gathering as Pope Francis presides a mass on World Children’s Day at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on May 26, 2024. Agence France-Presse

VATICAN CITY — The Holy See has urged developed nations to cancel debt held by small island states, which are on the front line of climate change, Vatican News said Wednesday.

“Debt cancellation is not just a matter of economic or development policy,” Vatican representative Robert Murphy said during a four-day Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference.

It is “a moral imperative rooted in the principles of justice and solidarity”, he said Tuesday.

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SIDS are extremely vulnerable to climate change but not rich enough to stop it on their own.

“The escalating debt burden faced by SIDS is becoming more and more unsustainable”, Murphy told the summit in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, according to Vatican News.

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“Moreover, debt perpetuates a cycle of dependency that hampers SIDS’ ability to address pressing issues such as poverty eradication and climate change,” he told the conference of 39 states, whose populations number roughly 65 million people.

Pope Francis called earlier this month for wealthy countries to cancel debts owed by lower-income countries not out of “of generosity” but “justice”.

Francis, who has made protecting the environment a key theme of his papacy, said rich nations have an “ecological debt” due to “the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time”.