Debt-for-nature swaps may give US$100bil boost to climate fight

Fishermen go out to sea to fish, after Ecuador's goverment expanded the protected marine area around the Galapagos Islands, near Puerto Ayora, on the island of Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador January 24, 2022. . REUTERS/Santiago Arcos/File Photo

LONDON: Debt-for-nature swaps, where poorer countries have debt written off in return for protecting ecosystems such as barrier reefs or rainforests, may provide US$100bil for the fight against climate change, according to a new report.

The UK-based, non-profit International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) based the estimate on the possibility of debt swaps in many of the 49 less developed countries seen as most at risk of debt crises.