OTHER DEBTS

DEBTS FROM THE PRODUCTION OF TOXIC WASTE, CHEMICAL WEAPONS AND NUCLEAR ARMS, WARS AND LOSS OF THE OZONE LAYER

The Eco Debt means calling in the historical debt that the industrialized countries from the North have with the Third World for the production of toxic waste, chemical weapons and undertaking nuclear tests and the resulting waste.

The countries from the North have turned the countries from the South into dumping grounds for their toxic residue.

All the social and environmental effects of the products of death and toxic residues produced in the North form part of the Eco Debt since they jeopardize the well-being of the planet as a whole and the local populations where the toxic waste is dumped.

As a consequence of attempting to exercise control over the ever-scarcer and more valuable recourses such as minerals, hydrocarbons, water and fertile soils, the countries from the South find themselves involved in armed conflict. The principal beneficiary of these wars is the weapons industry since it is they who gain access to the sought-after resources. Indeed, war is a very important social component in the South’s social and ecological debt with the North.

Furthermore, the thinning of the ozone layer caused by atmospheric pollution, principally chlorofluorocarbons, is irreversible. Only the total elimination of these emissions can stem the process. The countries suffering the consequences will have another eco debt receivable from the North. Chile and Argentine are the American countries most affected by the destruction of the ozone layer and are the principal creditors of this eco-debt.