European Council President António Costa will advocate for debt relief for countries in the Global South in exchange for green investments.
The EU leader is aiming to leverage three upcoming summits between the EU and Africa, Latin America-Caribbean, and Southeast Asia to achieve this.
Costa expressed this ambition on Tuesday during a speech at the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels. The Portuguese socialist had previously employed this strategy with Cape Verde during his tenure as Prime Minister.
"More than three billion people worldwide live in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on education and healthcare, not to mention climate adaptation and neutrality," Costa stated.
He highlighted that these financial pressures on public services and governments lead to protests, unrest, violence, and in some cases, coups, civil wars, and regional instability.
"We must lead a global initiative to ease some of this debt in exchange for green investments. Replacing the debtor’s debt financing cycle with the creditor’s green investments will benefit both parties—it’s a win-win situation," Costa argued.
From his perspective, the European Union is well-placed to lead this discussion.
"We will have three summits with the most affected regions within the next eight months: with the African Union (AU), with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)," he said.
