Because of the environmental damage they’ve caused, developed countries owe far more to developing nations than the amount of debt that developing nations have accrued by borrowing from richer governments and banks, according to a new report released by three British groups. The developed world is overwhelmingly responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change and therefore “have run up such an immense debt in their use of the global commons, like the atmosphere, that the entire world is in trouble,” says Andrew Simms, author of the report. The report was produced by the Global Commons Institute, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and Christian Aid, a charity that is campaigning to have developing nations’ debts cancelled.
