Debt payments by countries most vulnerable to climate crisis soar

Debt Justice says its report shows the need for comprehensive debt relief so that poor countries can invest in measures to tackle the climate crisis. Photograph: Amos Gumulira/AFP/Getty

Debt payments by the 50 countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis have doubled since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and now stand at their highest level in more than three decades, campaigners have warned.

The Debt Justice charity said countries at the highest risk of being affected by global heating were paying 15.5% of government revenues to external creditors – up from less than 8% before Covid-19 and 4% at their lowest recent point in 2010.