Dozens of countries are facing severe debt crises after being exacerbated by an increasingly bleak global economic outlook.
The latest report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reveals that more than half of the world's poor live in debt-ridden countries.
Without immediate assistance, at least 54 countries will experience increased levels of poverty, and much-needed investments in climate adaptation and risk reduction will not occur.
This is more worrying because the affected countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change in the world.
Following that, immediate debt relief is necessary to avoid worsening poverty and give them a chance to tackle the problem of climate change.
According to the report, a serious debt crisis is taking place across developing economies and the likelihood of worsening prospects is high.
The head of UNDP, Achim Steiner said that although warnings have been issued repeatedly, little action has been taken and the risk is increasing.
According to UNDP records, 46 out of 54 countries have accumulated public debt amounting to $782 billion in 2020 where Argentina, Ukraine and Venezuela alone account for more than a third of that amount.
Meanwhile, UNDP chief economist George Gray Molina said a third of all developing countries are labeled as high risk, highly speculative and default (failing to pay debts).
The countries most directly at risk are Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Tunisia, Chad and Zambia, he said.
