There is no more time for debate.
No room for delay.
The debt must be paid.
Before the earth takes it in blood.
Poet and writer Amir Murtaza shares his poem. Based in Karachi, Amir Murtaza is a published writer of two poetry books, “Khizan Main Rang Dhoondta Hoon” & “The Last Clouds”. He has also written a number of short stories for children. Amir can be contacted at amirmurtaza1@hotmail.com
[For years, poor and developing nations have urged industrialized countries to compensate for the devastating storms and droughts caused by climate change. However, wealthier nations—responsible for the emissions fueling this crisis—have long resisted these calls. While some have begun to contribute, the support remains insufficient, and structural challenges persist. Many developing countries advocate for more substantial, predictable, and legally binding commitments. Following poem captures this grim reality.]

The Debt Unpaid
For years, the voices have risen—
From parched fields, from coastlines swallowed by the sea,
From homes turned to ruins by winds too fierce to be natural.
They ask not for mercy,
But for what is owed—
A recognition, a reckoning.
In glass towers and conference halls,
The wealthy nations turn away,
Their signatures missing from promises long made,
Their hands gripping wealth built on a burning planet.
Storms rage louder now,
Waves crash higher,
Droughts stretch longer,
But still, they hesitate.
The ones who suffer know the weight of inaction,
Measured in lost harvests, displaced families,
Children breathing in the dust of what once was home.
And yet, there is hope—
A whisper in the winds,
A trembling in the roots,
A gathering of voices that refuse to be silenced.
This is not charity.
It is justice.
It is the past catching up with the present,
Demanding to be acknowledged.
There is no more time for debate.
No room for delay.
The debt must be paid.
Before the earth takes it in blood.
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