In July, the people who control the budgets of the world’s 20 richest countries will meet to discuss how they spend trillions in public money on economic recovery and stimulus packages.
Will they opt for ‘business as usual’ and bail out the failing systems and industries that drive global inequality, racial injustice and climate crisis? Yes, unless we demand better.
Paradigms are shifting fast as the crises of racial injustice, COVID-19, economic injustice and climate breakdown hit us all at once. We need jobs, we need healthcare, we demand justice.
This historic moment calls for a different response from us all. G20 finance ministers hold the pursestrings for a just recovery that can tackle all these crises together. They also control the unpayable and immoral ‘debt’ of the very countries who need the most help tackling COVID-19 and climate crisis, and whose people were enslaved and colonised without justice or reparations to date.
It’s our money, our lives and our future at stake. We demand better.
Dear G20 ministers,
As you meet this July, you hold the power to change the course of history. Your decisions can set the world on the path to a safe and just recovery from the interwoven crises of racial injustice, COVID, economic upheaval and climate breakdown hitting us all at once.
We demand better from you. We need jobs and investment in our communities, we need healthcare, we need better housing, greener transport, social care and dignified livelihoods. We demand justice.
As you prepare to launch unprecedented stimulus and recovery spending, know that this historic moment calls for an equally unprecedented response.
People everywhere have had enough of the failing systems and dying extractive industries that drive global inequality, racial injustice and climate crisis. We won’t let you gamble our chance at a better future away. It’s our money, our lives and our future at stake.