Education
Youth mobilisation puts debt cancellation at centre of climate justice demands – EnviroNews
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Calls for debt cancellation have emerged as a central demand of Malawi’s youth-led climate justice movement as young people and civil society organisations join the Global Week of Mobilisation for Climate Justice 2026.
The mobilisation, running from September 15 to 20, brings together youth, civil society organisations, faith groups, academic institutions and other stakeholders to demand stronger action on climate change and a just transition to a fossil-free future.
Held under the theme “This World is Ours: Ending Dirty Energy and Pushing for a Fossil-Free Future,” the week seeks to amplify youth voices and strengthen collective action on climate justice while highlighting social and economic inequalities linked to the climate crisis.
In Malawi, participating organisations are drawing attention to the relationship between climate change, development financing and the country’s debt burden.
They argue that highly indebted countries require greater fiscal space to invest in climate resilience and sustainable development rather than directing scarce public resources towards debt repayment.
The mobilisation includes ActionAid Malawi, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)/DanChurchAid (DCA), GreenFaith Malawi, the Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA), Civil Society Network on Climate Change (CISONECC), Oxfam, Global Platforms, Green Girls Platform and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR).
In a joint statement, the organisations said countries across the Global South, including Malawi, are struggling to adequately finance health, education, social protection, resilient infrastructure, food systems and climate action because of debt pressures.
“We cannot fight the climate crisis while trapped in a debt crisis. Debt cancellation is climate action,” the organisations said.
They called for a fair and lasting solution to the debt crisis and reforms to the global financial architecture that would give greater decision-making power to people and countries most affected by climate and economic injustice.
The organisations also criticised continued investment in activities they say contribute to environmental degradation, undermine livelihoods and accelerate climate change.
They called for greater transparency, meaningful citizen participation and stronger accountability in climate financing, public debt management, extractive industries and environmental governance.
The organisations further called for climate finance to reach communities on the frontlines of climate change and to be provided predominantly through grants rather than loans that could add to countries’ debt burdens.
According to the organisers, the week will also seek to increase public engagement, amplify the voices of communities most affected by climate change and create meaningful opportunities for young people, women and frontline communities to participate in climate and development decision-making.
By Steria Manda, AfricaBrief
