Washington DC – Scientist activists joined forces with movements around the world to protest the debt trap that has barred many countries from taking swift climate action.

Scientist Rebellion activist Dr. Rose Abramoff and many others took to the streets of Washington DC on Sunday in their Debt for Climate campaign. The protest aimed to highlight how financial debt is a major roadblock that stops countries from doing what's needed to halt the climate crisis.

Dr. Abramoff explained that "Debt for Climate is a global, south-led grassroots initiative" which is trying to get world leaders to cancel debt so that countries can shift that money towards saving our planet.

"Under the banner Debt for Climate, we demand that major economies cancel the debt of countries hardest hit by the climate crisis, start paying their climate debt, and stop private creditors from exploiting countries in a debt trap."

Making major climate action happen takes serious dough. But if poorer countries want to make change, they first need to free up the funds – which is where the Debt for Climate movement comes in.

It's basically like cancelling student debt on a much larger scale, so that countries can get on with the changes they know must happen to keep climate change from spiraling out of control.

The kicker? The nations that need debts cancelled most are usually tones that've contributed the least to climate change, but are already bearing the brunt of increasingly brutal climate impacts.

The protest was part of roughly 40 other actions happening around the world during the G7 summit between June 26-28.