The rest of us: Gen Zs in Kenya, Indonesia, Peru, Mexico and beyond are rising to show that they will not be silent while their futures are stolen.
Photo: wetheninetynine
The problem is hiding in plain sight when the world’s richest openly admit they see climate breakdown coming — but only as a problem for others.
A new global report, Billionaire Ambitions Report 2025, is a revealing read.
It shows super-rich wealth has hit an all-time high of $15.8 trillion, up 13% in a single year.
And to future-proof this dystopia, they plan to transfer nearly six trillion dollars of dynastic power to their nepo-baby kids to lock wealth into bloodlines while the 99% face floods, hunger, and repression today.
The rich see collapse coming — but not for themselves
It is a tale of two realities — Gen Z versus the billionaires.
While billionaires publicly admit they know climate collapse is a “challenge for young people”, just 14% of them think it will threaten their own wealth anytime soon.
More than half say climate change will be one of the biggest challenges young people must overcome, while the same billionaires say that their worries are about tariffs, taxes and market volatility hurting their profits.
Same world — different problems.
The elite know the world is burning, and are betting they will be dead or safe behind high gates when the flames reach them.
Climate collapse hits hardest in places drained by colonial extraction. Those most responsible build bunkers and monetise “solutions” to sell back to us at a profit.
Democracies are under attack as corporate money and authoritarian strongmen team up to crush our rights, our power and try to end hope.
Debt is killing people so billionaires can thrive
Rigged economies keep the 99% under the yoke of the 1%, while the ultra rich get record returns from our pain.
This is organised looting.
But hope can’t be crushed. Gen Zs in Kenya, Indonesia, Peru, Mexico, Nepal and beyond are rising to show that they will not be silent while their futures are stolen.
Multinationals from the Global North suck the world dry and stash their profits offshore while public services are underfunded from austerity measures and slowly privatised.
Meanwhile, Global South governments are forced to pay rich lenders. Global South countries paid a record $921 billion in interest — money stolen from public hospitals, schools and clean water.
Twenty-two African governments spend more on servicing debt than on healthcare.
People are dying so billionaires can hoard more.
Multilateralism has become a weapon of the 1%
How did we get here? By design, not by accident.
Right now the world’s biggest economic power is making it worse — President Donald Trump has erased every scrap of G20 work on inequality and climate as the US political theatrics over assuming the G20 Presidency continue.
Multilateralism was failing, now it is dissolving.
For decades, global institutions pretended to be fixing problems while creating new ones, imposing structural reforms plus debt which drive economies into chaos, forcing governments to cut support for public goods everyone needs.
We the 99% say enough — we are drawing the redline against the 1%.
Our economies and the international system must not be a chessboard for billionaires and multinationals. The Global North uses multilateralism to enforce a system of economic, social and ecological violence. The 1% hoard while the 99% struggle.
We have heard enough lies from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, G20 and their friends.
Because of the rigged system they uphold, the 99% cannot afford basic healthcare, dignity, education.
Our democracies are under threat while the planet is pushed past its limits.
We, the 99%, are done waiting — we hold the future
In the midst of these crises, youth-led street protests are erupting across continents as hope refuses to die. From Chiapas to Karachi, Nairobi to Soweto, Manila to Belém the 99% are rising.
Young people are reclaiming their economies, bodies, lands and futures. The system is rigged, so we are taking back control.
We do not need more acknowledgement that inequality is a problem like the G20’s statements in Johannesburg.
The Declaration from the We The 99 People’s Summit, held as a counterpoint to the G20 last month, is a 10 point roadmap to the future:
- Build a new system accountable to people and the planet — not the 1%.
- Tax the super-rich, Big Tech and multinationals.
- Stop the theft — close tax havens and shell companies.
- Cancel illegitimate debt.
- Enforce corporate accountability.
- Make polluters pay for the damage they’ve caused.
- Invest in climate justice — not false solutions.
- Value and redistribute care work as the foundation of our societies.
- Secure food sovereignty.
- Protect civic space and cultural rights.
- End occupation and genocide.
The elites built a world to bleed us dry. They have had their turn.
Now We The 99 Percent are taking back the power. The future belongs to the many, not the few.
Jenny Ricks is the general secretary of Fight Inequality Alliance