COP26: New Research Shows Latin American and Caribbean Countries Face Growing Climate Risks

Debt Relief Can Fund Climate Action, Says Religious Development Group

As climate talks continue in Scotland, new research shows that developing countries lack the resources to respond to the climate crisis.

"The Glasgow meetings are critical to protect our planet and the poor who suffer the worst impacts of climate change,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “Climate-induced natural disasters and food shortages disproportionately affect developing countries."

Ahead of COP26, Jubilee USA Network and LATINDADD released the Atlas of Vulnerability, focused on 24 Latin American and Caribbean developing countries. The map and research found 75% of countries fall below the global average in country capacity to respond to climate change.

"Debt relief can be an effective tool for helping developing countries take action to respond to climate-caused challenges," noted Jubilee USA's Senior Policy Director, Aldo Caliari. Caliari was one of the authors of the new climate research and wrote a paper last year on debt, climate and pandemic response.

The IMF calculates that developing country costs to deal with climate change rises to $140 billion to $300 billion by 2030. According to the United Nations, half of developing countries pay more than 25% of their budgets servicing debt. In October, 48 vulnerable countries asked for a process to use debt relief to support climate action.

“Developing countries struggle with rising debt levels and responding to the pandemic,” added LeCompte. “Debt relief and additional aid are essential for developing countries as they fight climate change."

In 2009 wealthy countries promised $100 billion in annual financing to developing countries by 2020. According to the OECD, developed countries provided almost $80 billion in 2019 and according to 2020 estimates, it was unlikely that the $100 billion target was met. COP26 brings together delegates from 200 countries to agree on climate actions. The meeting in Glasgow, Scotland comes six years after the Paris Agreement, a deal to address the earth's warming temperature caused by fossil fuel use.

Explore the interactive Jubilee USA Network and LATINDADD Atlas of Vulnerability: Developing Countries and the Pandemic here.

Read highlighted findings from the Atlas of Vulnerability here.

Read the briefing paper "Atlas of Vulnerability: The Pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean" here.

Read the paper on debt and climate from Jubilee USA's Aldo Caliari here.

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National Catholic Reporter Mentions Eric LeCompte's Article in Barron's

The National Catholic Reporter mentioned Eric LeCompte's article on the global COVID response in Barron's. Read the excerpt below and the full article here.

Links: Big Pharma fearmongering; Mark Zuckerberg's Meta; antisemitism on the left

by Michael Sean Winters

At Barron's, Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA, calls on the G20 summit leaders to leave no country behind as they continue to forge the global response to COVID-19 and the economic dislocation the virus has created. LeCompte is one of the few people who master both Catholic social doctrine and issues of international finance and policy, and can translate the moral principles into policy action. Let's hope the leaders were listening.

Read the full article here.

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Eric LeCompte Featured in Crux on the 26th Annual UN Climate Change Conference

Crux spoke with Eric LeCompte on the 26th Annual UN Climate Change Conference or COP26. Read the excerpt below and the full article here.

Catholic activists say COP26 is about ‘caring for your neighbor’

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Instituto Humanitas Unisinos Features Eric LeCompte on Biden's Meeting with Pope Francis

Instituto Humanitas Unisinos in Brazil featured Eric LeCompte in an article on President Biden's meeting with Pope Francis. Read the excerpt below and the full article here.

Biden praises Pope Francis as "the foremost warrior for peace"

Eric LeCompte , executive director of Jubilee USA Network , told NCR that the meeting between Biden  and Francisco is "crucial" as it highlights "the two most important and open leaders in global policy change before the G20 ."

"The most important decisions on climate change in our lives will be made over the next five years in the G20 and the International Monetary Fund ," said LeCompte . On behalf of Jubilee USA , an interfaith organization that advocates debt relief for countries development, he praised the Biden administration , saying the United States "is now the leading government in responding to the global climate crisis."

LeCompte said the Biden administration was the first to require all government agency spending to comply with its climate mitigation policies.

“No one else in the G20 has really started to do this yet,” he said, adding that he believes Biden's meeting with the pope offers a “united front” to pressure other presidents and prime ministers to do the same.

Read the full article here.

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G20 Summit Communiqué: Health, Climate and Global Economic Recovery

Religious Development Group Releases Statement on G20 Summit and Communiqué

G20 heads of state met in Rome for the first in-person meeting of the group since the pandemic started. COVID response and recovery, vaccines and climate were on the agenda.

Eric LeCompte is the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network. Ahead of the G20 Summit, Jubilee USA Network organized 286 religious, development, labor and environmental groups to press the G20 on pandemic response solutions. LeCompte, releases the following statement on the G20 Leaders' Summit and Communiqué:

"Ending the pandemic and preparing for future global health crises were central to the G20 Rome agenda.

"The world economy faces $5.3 trillion in losses over the next five years if we don’t get COVID under control.

"The tax agreement is good news, but we need to work on a higher mininum tax rate and including developing countries.

"While the G20's new vaccine task force is promising, we still don't have a plan to get the majority of people in developing countries vaccinated by the middle of next year. 

"Wealthy countries are experiencing supply shortages because of the lack of vaccines in developing countries.

"The G20 must move debt relief more quickly as too many countries struggle with food shortages and health crises. 

"Debt relief should be extended to all developing countries, not just those considered the poorest.

"The G20 calls for the private sector to participate in debt relief for poor countries.

"The G20 debt relief framework must include processes that ensure all creditors participate in debt relief.

"Tackling IMF surcharges on loans will provide more space for countries to deal with the economic and health impacts of the coronavirus crisis.

"The G20 should do more to support debt relief so developing countries can take more action to confront the climate crisis."

"G20 decisions influence what can happen during the UN climate summit in Glasgow.

"The G20 Summit reviewed ways to deliver more emergency currency, or Special Drawing Rights, to developing countries to fight the pandemic and climate crisis.

"The G20's call to establish the new resiliency trust will help more than just the poorest countries. Some developing middle-income countries can access resources to fight the pandemic and climate change.

"As developing countries struggle with debt payments and spend money on pandemic recovery, they don't have the funds to address climate change.

"The G20 should do more to support debt relief so developing countries can take more action to confront the climate crisis."

Read the G20 communiqué here.

Jubilee USA organized 286 groups to press the G20 on pandemic response solutions. Read the letter here.

Ahead of the G20 Summit, Jubilee USA Network and LATINDADD released new research on how developing countries are impacted by the pandemic. Read about the release of the Atlas of Vulnerability here.

Explore the interactive Atlas of Vulnerability: Developing Countries and the Pandemic here.

Read Eric LeCompte's commentary in Barron's on leaving no country behind in pandemic response here.
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Eric LeCompte Writes Article in Barron's on Global Pandemic Response

Eric LeCompte wrote a guest article in Barron's on the need to include middle-income countries in a global COVID-19 response and recovery. Read an excerpt below and read the full article here.

The Global Covid Response Is Leaving Millions Behind

We can only end the pandemic if we end it everywhere. Yet, across the world, Covid recovery efforts are leaving hundreds of millions of people behind. As policymakers seek the best way out of the crisis, their efforts should incorporate what we now know: It’s more difficult for developing countries to respond to the pandemic.

The Covid-19 crisis hit developing countries harder than wealthy countries and the effects will linger longer. The International Monetary Fund projects that advanced economies will return to their prepandemic growth trends in 2022, while developing countries will see persistent losses continue for several more years.

A new interactive map and database published by my organization, Jubilee USA Network, and our partners, LATINDADD, shows why developing countries face greater pandemic health and economic challenges.

The database, called the Atlas of Vulnerability, identifies pre-existing challenges that 24 developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean face. These vulnerabilities heightened the impact of the coronavirus crisis. While these developing countries are crushed by the ongoing pandemic, they are left out of solutions decided by world leaders because they are not classified by the World Bank as “low-income.”

Read more here.

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Eric LeCompte Quoted in the National Catholic Reporter on President Biden-Pope Francis Meeting

The National Catholic Reporter quoted Eric LeCompte on a meeting between President Joe Biden and Pope Francis at the Vatican on Oct. 29. Read the excerpt below or read the full article here.

Biden praises Pope Francis at Vatican as 'most significant warrior for peace'

Rome — President Joe Biden praised Pope Francis as "the most significant warrior for peace I've ever met" during a closely watched meeting at the Vatican Oct. 29.

Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, told NCR that the meeting between Biden and Francis is "critical" as it spotlights "the two most important and vocal leaders on changing global policies right before the G20."

"The most important decisions on climate change in our lifetimes will be made over the next five years at the G20 and at the International Monetary Fund," LeCompte explained. On behalf of Jubilee USA, an interfaith organization advocating for debt relief for developing countries, he praised the Biden administration saying that the United States "is now the leading government responding to the global climate crisis."

LeCompte said the Biden administration was the first to mandate that all government agencies' spending comply with its climate mitigation policies.

"No one else in the G20 has actually started to do that yet," he said, adding that he believes that Biden's meeting with the president offers a "united front" to push other presidents and prime ministers to follow suit.

Read more here.

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G20 Focuses on Vaccines, Health, Economy and Climate During Rome Summit

286 Organizations Call G20 to More Action

President Biden joins G20 heads of state in Rome to discuss COVID response, vaccines, debt, economic crisis and climate policies. This is the first in-person meeting of the leaders since before the onset of the pandemic.

“Decisions by the G20 on the pandemic will shape global health, economic and climate policies for years to come,” shared Eric LeCompte, a United Nations finance expert who heads the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “The world is waiting for the G20 to provide a plan on getting 70 percent of the globe vaccinated next year."

Financing of vaccines and prevention of future global health crises will be a focus of the G20 meetings.

Ahead of the G20 summit, Jubilee USA Network organized nearly 300 religious groups, labor unions and anti-poverty, environmental and human rights organizations to write a letter to press President Biden, the Italian G20 chair and head of the IMF to address poverty and climate policies in pandemic response.

G20 leaders travel to Glasgow after the Rome meetings for a UN-convened summit on climate. 

"What the G20 decides this weekend on climate policies will impact decisions at the upcoming climate conference," said LeCompte. "Responding to the pandemic means that developing countries have even less capacity to address climate change."

Jubilee USA Network joined LATINDADD to release a report and research database ahead of the G20 summit on vulnerabilities that affected developing countries during the pandemic. One of those vulnerabilities the two groups focused on was climate change.

"Our research found that too many developing countries are left out of G20 pandemic response processes because they are ranked as middle-income developing economies," stated LeCompte. "World leaders can use our research as a tool to ensure adequate pandemic response for all countries struggling with the coronavirus health and economic crises."

Read Jubilee USA's COVID-19 White House, IMF, G20 Letter with 286 supporting groups here

Read the joint US Conference of Catholic Bishops/Jubilee USA Network Letter to President Biden here

Explore the interactive Jubilee USA Network and LATINDADD Atlas of Vulnerability: Developing Countries and the Pandemic here.

Read highlighted findings from the Atlas of Vulnerability here.

Read the briefing paper "Atlas of Vulnerability: The Pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean" here.

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Religious Development Group, Focused on Pandemic Response, Releases Statement

On Friday, October 29th, Pope Francis and President Biden meet at the Vatican (Holy See). The meeting focuses on pandemic response, climate issues and poverty. Biden is in Rome for a weekend meeting of G20 heads of state, before heading to Glasgow for a UN-convened summit on climate. 

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of religious development organization Jubilee USA Network advises the Vatican and United Nations on pandemic response. He has worked with the IMF, White House, Treasury and G20 on economic, health and climate pandemic responses since March of 2020. LeCompte releases the following statement on the Pope Francis-Biden meeting: 

"Francis and Biden are the two most important voices on the need for a robust pandemic response that protects our planet and addresses poverty.

"From a moral perspective, Francis has made the environment and the poor the central concerns of his papacy. From a political perspective, Biden is pushing world leaders to address climate change, poverty and vaccine distribution.

"It's not a coincidence this historic meeting comes right before the G20 Summit where world leaders will make decisions on pandemic response, climate change and economic aid for developing countries. 

"While Pope's meet with every US President, this is only the second time that the President is Catholic.

"The Holy Father and Biden are presenting a united vision for what the Church calls a global society devoted to building the common good."

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National Catholic Reporter Mentions Eric LeCompte Event at St. John's University

The National Catholic Reporter mentioned Eric LeCompte's discussion about labor, religion, politics and public engagement at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Read the excerpt below or read the full article here.

Links: Latino voters in Virginia; Missouri's MAGA warrior; flying on French-fry fuel

Several on-campus institutes at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, hosted a discussion about labor, religion, politics and public engagement last week, featuring Eric LeCompte, executive director at Jubilee USA, and Damon Silvers, assistant to the president and special counsel at the AFL-CIO. Worth taking the time to watch. Their reflections on the devastation in Puerto Rico after the twin hurricanes of 2017 are moving — and more than moving, they are poignant.

Read more here.

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Georgetown University's Berkley Center Mentions Eric LeCompte on Unequal Global Pandemic Recovery

Eric LeCompte was mentioned by Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs on the G20's opportunity to mend divides between rich and poor countries exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the excerpt below or read the full article here.

Is This a Kairos Moment for the G20 to Address Inequalities?

Divergent paths and inequalities are a stark reality that mark the COVID-19 era. The global emergencies affect different individuals very differently. Everyone shares in uncertainties, well aware of deaths, illness, and economic disruptions, but some have actually seen their wealth increase and savored time for reflection and new ventures. For others, however, grief, hunger, and disrupted relationships dominate life. The situation for nations also ranges widely. All face setbacks and need to adjust hopes and plans, but many are looking catastrophe in the face, with decades of progress wiped out.

Deep economic and financial crises for states are the most immediate challenge for the G20 summit, and attention was called particularly to Africa and to especially vulnerable communities. An invited panelist, Eric LeCompte, Jubilee USA, could not participate in person but the discussion highlighted that faith-linked network’s active and continuing engagement with the G20 process and leaders on precisely these challenges.

Read more here.

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Crux Features Jubilee USA and LATINDADD on the Atlas of Vulnerability

Jubilee USA was featured in a Crux article on its Atlas of Vulnerability, launched with the Latin American Network on Debt, Development and Rights (LATINDADD). Read an excerpt below and read the full article here.

New ‘Atlas of Vulnerability’ show where help is most needed post-COVID

Just in time for the convening of world leaders at the G20 Summit in Rome, two advocacy organizations on Oct. 25 launched a database that illuminates existing vulnerabilities and growing challenges developing nations face due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Formally known as Atlas of Vulnerability: Developing Countries and the Pandemic (vulnerabilityatlas.org), the database features 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries that Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, argues need more support, resources and aid then they’ve received so far through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Releasing it now, he hopes, portrays that reality to G20 leaders as they come together this week.

“These are really unfortunate, really challenging findings that we hope motivate world leaders to act,” LeCompte told Crux. “This data is going to make it possible for world leaders to see that these developing middle income countries need to be included in aid and financing, and need to be included in more vaccine distribution policies.”

Read more here.

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