In October 2025, movements, civil society organizations (CSOs), and people’s platforms across the world united for the Global Week of Action (GWoA), a coordinated mobilization demanding urgent reforms to the global financial architecture, cancellation of unjust public debts, and reparations for the devastating social, economic, and climate impacts driven by decades of extractive policies.
Timed to coincide with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC, the GWoA amplified a unified call:
“Stop the Harm! Cancel the Debt! Reparations and Just Transition Now!”
With actions staged across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and global capitals, the GWoA underscored widespread frustration over debt burdens, fossil fuel expansion, austerity policies, and the violation of social and climate justice in the Global South.
A Convergence of Global Crises
Across the Global South, public debt has reached historic highs.
According to UNCTAD, public debt in developing countries stood at USD 31 trillion in 2024, growing at twice the rate of debt in the Global North. Net interest payments alone reached USD 921 billion—resources diverted away from essential public services such as healthcare, education, housing, climate adaptation, and social protection.
Against this backdrop, activists underscored that:
Mounting debt deepens economic and social inequality
Austerity measures erode public services
IMF and World Bank prescriptions continue to enforce privatization and trade liberalization
Climate action is being undermined by debt-driven financing models
Movements argue that these institutions, founded in 1944, continue to operate with power structures that privilege the Global North, while limiting policy autonomy and development choices for the Global South.
Voices From the Global Movement
Throughout the Week of Action, leaders and advocates across continents issued strong statements exposing the intersections of climate injustice, debt colonialism, and economic inequality.
Debt as a Barrier to People-Centered Development
Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development emphasized that debt-driven austerity undermines essential services:
“Mounting debts mean mounting debt service, resulting in cuts to budgets for healthcare, education, decent housing and other essentials… Burdensome debts are also part of barriers to urgent climate actions.”
Climate Finance Cannot Be Built on New Debt
Despite Global North obligations under the UNFCCC to provide grant-based climate finance, multilateral lenders continue to offer loans, further entrenching indebtedness.
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of CAN International, warned:
“A Just Transition cannot be built on debt, austerity and fossil fuels… their model is a death trap, gutting public services and accelerating catastrophe.”
Debt as a Modern Instrument of Control
African movements added that debt perpetuates economic dependence and political influence.
Hardi Yakubu of Africans Rising noted:
“Debt has become a weapon used to control our economies and silence our people… True justice starts with reparations and accountability from the Global North.”
Tax Justice and Global Financial Governance
Leaders also criticized regressive tax policies and the dominance of creditor nations within global economic governance.
Dereje Alemayehu of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice stated:
“The IMF and World Bank impose austerity and regressive tax measures that drain resources from essential public services… We need a global financial architecture that is democratic and transparent.”
The Call for System Change
Beyond immediate debt cancellation, the GWoA highlighted broader structural demands:
1. Democratizing Sovereign Debt Governance
Movements reject lender-dominated mechanisms such as the G20 Common Framework and instead advocate for a UN Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt, a fair process that puts people and development first.
2. Reparations for Historical and Ongoing Harms
Communities worldwide demand accountability for centuries of colonial extraction, carbon emissions, and economic policies that harmed the Global South.
3. Grant-Based Climate Finance
A rapid transition away from fossil fuels requires public, non-debt-creating finance that prioritizes frontline communities.
4. Gender Justice at the Center of Economic Policy
As highlighted by the Center for Women’s Resources (APWLD), austerity and privatization disproportionately burden women by expanding unpaid care work and reducing access to essential services.
5. A Just Transition Rooted in People’s Rights
Civil society rejects profit-driven, loan-based transition models and demands a people-centered approach that uplifts workers, Indigenous peoples, and marginalized communities.
A Year of Global Mobilizations
The October Global Week of Action forms part of a larger movement branded “This World is Ours: Resist, Reclaim, Rise Up for System Change.”
The year 2025 is positioned as a turning point, with mobilizations aligned to major global events:
June 2025: Financing for Development Conference (Seville) – Pay Up! Cancel the Debt!
September 2025: Rise Up to Draw the Line – Climate justice mobilizations
October 2025: Global Week of Action – Debt, reparations, and just transition
November 2025: Actions ahead of COP30 and the G20 Summit
These coordinated efforts seek to build a global movement capable of reshaping financial, economic, and climate governance.
Conclusion: A Growing Wave for Justice
The Global Week of Action 2025 reaffirmed a powerful truth: the world’s economic and climate crises are interconnected, and so must be the solutions. Around the world, communities are rising to demand:
Freedom from debt-driven austerity
Respect for human rights
Climate reparations
A transition away from fossil fuels
A fair and democratic global economic order
As movements continue to mobilize toward COP30, the G20 Summit, and beyond, one message remains clear:
A just and livable world requires system change — not more loans, not more austerity, and not more false solutions.