ecological debt

FoEI is also pushing for the recognition and reclaiming of the ecological debt accumulated after decades of resource extraction by northern countries in the South.

Ecological debt is defined as the cumulative debt of northern industrialized nations to Third World countries for resource plundering, biodiversity loss, environmental damage, and the free occupation of environmental space to deposit wastes from industrialized countries, among others.

FoEI’s Ecological Debt Campaign opposes northern natural resource extraction that damages southern peoples’ survival and degrades their best lands and marine resources in the name of export production. This includes the appropriation of southern traditional knowledge and biodiversity, which contribute billions of dollars each year to the northern pharmaceutical industry.

The Southern Peoples’ Ecological Debt Creditors alliance, supported by FoEI, reclaims the repayment of the ecological debt – not just in financial terms, but in the total restoration of ecosystems so that communities can resume their sustainable livelihoods.

more information: www.deudaecologica.org