Top development banks to launch debt-for-nature swap ‘task force’

The world’s top multilateral development banks are set to launch a global “task force” at the COP28 climate summit in the coming days to scale up the number and size of ‘debt-for-nature’ swaps that countries can do.

Debt-for-nature swaps, where a developing country’s debt is cut in return for protecting vital ecosystems, are attracting growing interest following a number of successful recent examples in places such as Belize and the Galapagos Islands.

The task force creation is the most significant step so far in showing that the global club of multilateral lenders, which between them have trillions of dollars worth of firepower, will significantly ramp up their support for these deals.

“Our motivation for being part of this (task force) is to bring debt-for-nature swaps and related instruments to the forefront,” Hassatou Diop N’Sele, Vice-President for…