Activists worldwide slam IMF, G7 over debt, climate crisis

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Civil society organizations and social movements in over 50 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America mobilized on October 16, 2025, to hold the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and G7 nations accountable for the worsening debt, economic, and climate crises.

In the Philippines, activists gathered at the historic Mendiola Bridge in Manila to echo the global call, denouncing systemic corruption and demanding urgent structural reforms.

The protest underscored demands for debt cancellation, an end to austerity-driven loan conditions imposed on cash-strapped countries in the Global South, the halt of fossil fuel lending, and the provision of grants-based climate finance.

Protesters also called for reparations for environmental destruction and a just transition toward sustainable economies.

Demonstrators emphasized that public debt levels in Asia and the broader Global South have reached unprecedented highs, with debt servicing costs consuming increasing portions of national budgets.

Citing United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) data, activists said the public debt of developing nations grew twice as fast as that of Global North economies since 2010, totaling USD 31 trillion by 2024.

“The IMF and the World Bank remain key actors of the G7, the world’s richest countries, in worsening the climate and debt catastrophes,” said Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD).

The demonstration brought together campaigners and activists from Oriang National Women’s Movement, Kilusan para sa Kabuhayan, Kalusugan, Kalikasan at Katiyakan sa Paninirahan, Sanlakas, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, Freedom from Debt Coalition, Zone One Tondo Organization, and APMDD.

These groups united under a common call to end unjust economic systems and climate injustice, asserting that solutions must address root causes—not just symptoms—of global inequality.

(Photo: Philippine activists join CSOs and social movements in a Global Day of Coordinated Mobilizations on October 16, 2025, against the IMF, World Bank, and G7. Photo courtesy of APMDD)