Caritas launch new report at COP 30
‘Rising Tides, Rising Debt’ outlines the cost of natural disasters to communities in the Pacific.
Released at COP30 by Caritas Australia, Caritas Oceania, and Caritas Latin America & the Caribbean, the report reveals this is not an isolated experience. It is a shared crisis across the Global South, where climate vulnerability and sovereign debt reinforce one another in a destructive loop.
“Cyclones hit Pacific economies six times harder than Black Summer bushfires” – Caritas Australia.
In the Pacific, economic losses from a single cyclone can reach 30–50% of GDP, a staggering burden for small island economies. Vanuatu for example, is hit by 2–3 cyclones that make landfall each year.
The brutal truth is that countries on the frontlines of climate change are paying twice for damage they did not cause…. First, they pay to respond to disasters by rebuilding homes, repairing infrastructure, and providing emergency relief. Then they pay again through the debt they take on to fund that response. This deepens their vulnerability and leaves them even less prepared for the next shock.” said Kirsten Sayers, CEO of Caritas Australia.
The report calls for urgent reforms: grant-based climate finance instead of loans, debt cancellation, and recognition of the ecological debt owed by high-emitting nations to those most affected.
In his foreword to ‘Rising Tides, Rising Debt’, Cardinal Soane Mafi, President of Caritas Oceania, reminds us of the moral and ecological stakes:
Our regions hold the two great lungs of the earth – the Ocean and the Amazon forest… They give life to the earth, and we are called to share in that life-giving process.”
READ:
‘Rising Tides, Rising Debt’ report | caritas.org.au | advocacy reports
Caritas launches ‘Rising Tides, Rising Debt’ report at COP30 | caritas.org.au | news | 17 November 2025
Every typhoon a double blow for small island economies | cathnews.com | 19 November 2025