The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), together with the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Methodist Council, the Council for World Mission, and United Society Partners in the Gospel, have issued a strong appeal to G20 leaders to transform global financial and economic systems in ways that advance justice for people and the planet. Collectively representing more than 600 million Christians worldwide, the organizations expressed full support for the 2025 G20 Summit theme, “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability!” and called for decisions inspired by the spirit of Ubuntu.
In a joint letter addressed to South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, Chair of the 2025 G20, the church bodies stressed that the world’s interlinked economic, social, and environmental emergencies demand a New International Financial and Economic Architecture built on economic, social, and climate justice.
The letter highlights the widening chasm between rich and poor, pointing to Oxfam’s 2023 findings that nearly two-thirds of all wealth created since 2020—$42 trillion—was captured by the richest 1%, nearly double the share accrued by the rest of the global population. It also notes that global public debt has climbed to more than $100 trillion, forcing many countries to divert scarce resources from essential services to debt repayment.
Debt and Climate Crises: “Two Sides of the Same Imperial Coin”
The signatories argue that the same forces driving inequality have also fueled climate catastrophe. Communities least responsible for climate change—including small island states, Indigenous communities, and rural populations—are compelled to borrow for recovery from climate disasters.
“This is ecological theft. This is climate colonialism,” the letter states. “The debt crisis and the climate crisis are not separate—they are two sides of the same imperial coin.”
Key Demands to G20 Leaders
The coalition of global Christian communions endorsed the goals of the Turn Debt Into Hope campaign and urged G20 leaders to:
- End the current debt crisis by cancelling unjust and unsustainable debts with no policy conditionalities.
- Prevent future crises through systemic financial reforms centered on people and the planet.
- Create a permanent, transparent, and binding UN-led sovereign debt framework.
Additional structural demands include:
- Establishing a UN Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt to replace the insufficient G20 Common Framework.
- Recognizing ecological debt and providing climate finance through non-debt mechanisms.
- Rejecting debt-for-nature swaps, austerity programs, and the commodification of nature.
- Conducting transparent debt audits with civil society participation.
- Implementing substantial taxation on the ultra-wealthy, financial speculators, and multinational corporations.
- Mandating enforceable corporate accountability standards for human rights and environmental protection.
- Strengthening public investment in care work, health, education, and local food systems.
A Call to Lead with Ubuntu
The letter urges G20 leaders to ensure their decisions serve the common good rather than elite interests.
“We urge you to make decisions towards justice for the 99% of the world’s population, and not for the benefit of the already super rich.”
The organizations expressed hope that the spirit of Ubuntu will guide deliberations at the 2025 G20 Leaders’ Summit, advancing genuine solidarity, equality, and sustainability for all.
