Urgent Action Needed: Support Debt Relief for a Just and Sustainable Future

Jubilee 2025 is a global ecumenical initiative that builds on the transformative success of Jubilee 2000, which canceled $100 billion of debt for 36 low-income countries.

In Canada, KAIROS Canada is leading the campaign in collaboration with Citizens for Public Justice, Development and Peace – Caritas Canada, and the Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology. Together, we are mobilizing communities of faith and conscience to demand:

• Debt cancellation for unjust and unsustainable debts.
• Global financial reform to prevent future crises.
• A debt resolution framework within the United Nations that is transparent, binding and fair.

Currently, over 3.3 billion people live in countries that are spending more on debt payments than on vital services like health or education. This immense financial burden severely hinders sustainable development and, in many cases, outweighs spending on crucial climate action. For heavily indebted nations, public debt has become an impossible burden, passed down through generations.

Simultaneously, wealthy countries like Canada, and powerful corporations, continue to exploit resources from these heavily indebted countries and from Indigenous communities worldwide. This exploitation leads to severe human rights violations and profound ecological damage, creating an “ecological debt” owed to these nations and Indigenous peoples.

However, this situation can change. We believe it is imperative that public, private, and multilateral creditors cancel or significantly reduce these unsustainable debts. Furthermore, political leaders must actively support a robust multilateral framework for debt resolution.

Implementing such changes would be truly transformative for billions of people. It would enable a fundamental shift away from a model solely focused on profit and enriching creditors, towards one that prioritizes a just society, centering the well-being of people and the health of our planet.