As the 2021 Annual Conference of the Global Forum on Productivity opens jointly with the Italian presidency of G20 Italy. While productivity is rising, wages have largely remained stagnant and will likely remain as such due to the pandemic and the multiple crises in its wake. Economic lockdowns have enormously impacted labor, especially those under contractual arrangements. By mid-2020, losses of working hours reached 15.2 per cent in Asia and the Pacific, 15.6 per cent in Africa, 16.9 per cent in the Arab States, 17.5 per cent in Europe and Central Asia, and 28 per cent in the Americas, with a global average of 17.3 per cent (ILO). Much more public funds could be spent on social spending to support them – funds which could be unlocked through debt cancellation.

Fossil Fuels must end immediately and Asia Pacific must shift to renewables, we urge or governments to bring in real solutions to climate change so that our future generations are debt free and have green future.

With – APMDD