Turn Debt Into Hope
We are in a Year of Jubilee: a time to cancel debt, restore land, give life.
As Pilgrims of Hope, we call on global and national leaders, and financial institutions to cancel unjust debt and reform the global financial system.
* Personal information will be held by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand on behalf of Caritas Oceania. Only numbers of signatories, not personal details, will be shared with other organisations. Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand’s privacy policy is here.
This petition portal is intended primarily for people living in Pacific Islands across Oceania.
If you live in Australia, sign the petition hosted by Caritas Australia here.
If you live in Aotearoa New Zealand, sign the petition hosted by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand here.
This page is an online petition hosted by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand on behalf of Caritas Oceania.
Caritas in Oceania is promoting the Turn Debt Into Hope Jubilee Campaign led by the international Caritas confederation. As Pilgrims of Hope, we call on global and national leaders, and financial institutions to cancel unjust debt and reform the global financial system.
There is an urgent need for debt justice, especially for Pacific nations being forced to borrow more money to recover from climate disasters. This is stripping already vulnerable nations of the resources they need for health, education, and the futures of young people.
At least six Pacific countries (Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu) have been identified as being at ‘high risk’ of debt distress, while a further four (Fiji, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands) at moderate risk. Some countries are allocating more to debt servicing than they spend on health or education. It makes it harder to invest in climate resilience and sustainable development.
A global injustice
The debt crisis is a global injustice. Over 100 countries face a debt crisis. More than 3.3 billion people live in countries where governments spend more on debt repayments than on essential services like health or education. that includes Fiji and Samoa in the Pacific. In 2023, developing countries spent 12.5 times more on debt servicing than on tackling climate change, leaving them vulnerable to its devastating impacts.
Wealthier nations are historically responsible for most of our climate change and environmental damage. Poorer nations are now paying the price, ecologically and financially. This is especially true in the Pacific, which faces the worst impacts of climate change. Pacific nations are being forced into unsustainable debt to adapt to climate change and rebuild after more extreme weather events.
This year’s Jubilee Turn Debt into Hope campaign echoes the successful Jubilee 2000 movement, which cancelled over $100 billion in unjust debt earlier this century. But we need more than debt cancellation, we need to turn the tables of the global financial system to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Sign our petition to Turn Debt into Hope and provide a future for our planet and our children:
By signing the petition, you ask political leaders and financial institutions to:
1
Stop the debt crisis now by cancelling and remedying unjust and unsustainable debts, without economic policy conditions.
2
Prevent debt crises from happening again by addressing their root causes, reforming the global financial system to prioritise people and the planet.
3
Establish a permanent, transparent, binding and comprehensive debt framework within the United Nations.
