In Data: How much do rich nations owe Africa for climate damage?

NAIROBI/MEXICO CITY - While African nations sacrifice health and education services to repay foreign loans, wealthy polluting countries owe the continent more than 50 times more than Africa's total debt for damages caused by climate change, according to a new report by international charity ActionAid.

ActionAid calculated that Africa is owed around $36 trillion in climate reparations by rich countries against $646 billion owed by the continent to wealthy nations, private creditors, and global financial institutions.

Climate reparations, often referred to as compensation for "loss and damage", take into account the economic toll of climate-fuelled disasters. These range from devastation caused by wildfires to the erosion of coasts due to sea-level rise.    

The report, published to coincide with an African Union February summit, used existing research on historical emissions and their economic impacts to put a figure on climate debt owed by rich nations to Africa.

Researchers calculated climate debt by looking at how much rich countries have over-polluted compared to their fair share based on the recommended safe limits of atmospheric carbon dioxide, known as atmospheric appropriation.

The researchers then calculated the economic benefits these countries gained from the excess emissions, and how much they should pay to poorer countries affected by climate change.   

Many African nations are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including droughts, floods and cyclones, but have to repay millions of dollars in debt annually, reducing their capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate risks, the report said.

ActionAid also said an unjust global credit rating system was driving the debt crisis in most African countries.

The system frequently relies on methodologies that do not adequately account for the unique economic realities of the continent, leading to lower credit ratings, higher borrowing costs, and limited access to capital, development experts say.

Africa is charged much higher interest rates on loans compared to rich countries with an average of 9.8% charged in Africa, compared to the average of 0.8% for Germany, it added.

Lenders say the level of interest charged is a measure of the risk of a country defaulting on its debt.

The report said many African countries were spending more on debt repayments than on public health and education.

Angola, for example, was spending 65% of its national revenue on foreign debt repayments, compared to 9% on health and 13% on education, the ActionAid data showed.

The report said while climate debt has been acknowledged in international discussions, other historic debts owed to the Caribbean, Africa and the African diaspora for colonisation and the transatlantic slave trade remain unaddressed.

Some African countries are increasingly demanding debt relief as part-payment of the climate debt and other reparations owed by rich countries.

The African Union has declared 2025 the year of "Justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations" and ActionAid said demands for compensation are expected to gather momentum this year.