{"id":39004,"date":"2022-12-31T10:10:33","date_gmt":"2022-12-31T10:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/swapping-debt-for-climate-or-nature-pledges-can-help-fund-resilience\/"},"modified":"2022-12-31T10:10:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-31T10:10:33","slug":"swapping-debt-for-climate-or-nature-pledges-can-help-fund-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/swapping-debt-for-climate-or-nature-pledges-can-help-fund-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Swapping Debt for Climate or Nature Pledges Can Help Fund Resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\nCountries that are most vulnerable to climate change\u2014and the associated<br \/>\nloss of natural biodiversity\u2014are often those least able to afford<br \/>\ninvestment to strengthen resilience because their budgets are burdened by<br \/>\ndebt. Such countries face a high risk of fiscal crisis,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/en\/Publications\/WP\/Issues\/2022\/08\/11\/Debt-for-Climate-Swaps-Analysis-Design-and-Implementation-522184\"><br \/>\nIMF staff research<\/a>\u00a0shows.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nDebt-for-climate swaps and debt-for-nature swaps seek to free up fiscal<br \/>\nresources so that governments can improve resilience without triggering a<br \/>\nfiscal crisis or sacrificing spending on other development priorities.<br \/>\nCreditors provide debt relief in return for a government commitment to,<br \/>\nsay, decarbonize the economy, invest in climate-resilient infrastructure,<br \/>\nor protect biodiverse forests or reefs.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<a name=\"_Hlk121814485\"><br \/>\nThese instruments have existed in various forms for decades, and more<br \/>\ncountries are considering them following recent agreements in<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.org\/en-us\/newsroom\/tnc-announces-barbados-blue-bonds-debt-conversion\/\"><br \/>\nBarbados<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/en\/Publications\/fandd\/issues\/2022\/03\/Country-cases-meeting-the-future-Belize-Colombia-Ghana#Belize\"><br \/>\nBelize<\/a>\u00a0and<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.org\/en-us\/about-us\/where-we-work\/africa\/stories-in-africa\/seychelles-conservation-commitment-comes-to-life\/\"><br \/>\nSeychelles<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIn cases where action would not have been taken without the swap, the<br \/>\narrangement aids climate action or protects nature. And to the extent that<br \/>\ndebt reduction exceeds the new spending commitments, borrowers get fiscal<br \/>\nrelief through budget savings. There can be other benefits, too, such as an<br \/>\nupgrade to a country\u2019s sovereign credit rating, as was the case in Belize,<br \/>\nwhich makes government borrowing cheaper.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nSwaps could even create additional revenue for countries with valuable<br \/>\nbiodiversity by allowing them to charge others for protecting it and<br \/>\nproviding a global public good. This is also true of carbon sinks, or<br \/>\nnatural environments which absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and<br \/>\nare an important part of the transition to a lower carbon economy.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/-\/media\/Images\/IMF\/Blog\/Articles\/Blog-Charts\/2022\/spr-climate-debt-swap-chart.ashx\" style=\"width:750px;\" alt=\" lower carbon economy\" class=\"Image-enlarge\"\/><\/p>\n<p>In most cases, it\u2019s more effective to address debt and climate or nature<br \/>\nseparately.<\/p>\n<p>\nFor example, a simple climate-conditional grant tends to be more efficient<br \/>\non the climate side without the added complexity of a debt-swap operation.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nFor countries with unsustainable debt, a swap cannot restore solvency<br \/>\nunless it involves a sufficiently large share of a country\u2019s debt and<br \/>\nsubstantial relief\u2014an extreme case. So far, no swap has come close to<br \/>\nachieving this.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nSwaps are thus not substitutes for debt restructuring when it is needed.<br \/>\nInstead, a broad-based restructuring (through the<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/en\/Blogs\/Articles\/2021\/12\/02\/blog120221the-g20-common-framework-for-debt-treatments-must-be-stepped-up\"><br \/>\nGroup of Twenty\u2019s Common Framework<\/a>,for instance) would best restore solvency. Measures to support climate or<br \/>\nconservation investment could then follow.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThat said, grants and concessional loans from bilateral donors and<br \/>\nmultilateral development banks are scarce relative to the enormous need for<br \/>\nclimate and nature financing, particularly for middle-income countries that<br \/>\ndo not normally qualify for grants. And restructuring is often not<br \/>\navailable to countries until their debts become unsustainable and they lose<br \/>\nmarket access.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nUnder these circumstances, it may not be feasible to deal with the issues<br \/>\nseparately. Swaps may then be among the few tools that are available to<br \/>\nhelp with both debt and environmental objectives. So there are<br \/>\ncircumstances in which they can complement other climate-finance<br \/>\ninstruments.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Need to scale up transactions<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nYet for swaps to really have an impact, the number and size of transactions<br \/>\nmust be scaled up significantly. This means addressing barriers to scale<br \/>\nand improving the financial terms under which swaps are conducted.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThere are several ways to help swaps progress from niche products, often<br \/>\nlinked to small projects that are expensive to structure and monitor, to<br \/>\nmore mainstream instruments.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/en\/Publications\/WP\/Issues\/2022\/08\/11\/Debt-for-Climate-Swaps-Analysis-Design-and-Implementation-522184\"><br \/>\nIMF staff<\/a>\u00a0have proposed: structuring deals around broad climate and environmental<br \/>\ngoals such as de-carbonizing the energy industry, investing in adaptation,<br \/>\nor protecting nature; moving away from custom projects and supporting<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iied.org\/16674iied\"><br \/>\nbudgetary spending<\/a>\u00a0on climate in countries with strong public financial management and policy<br \/>\ncredibility; and linking swaps to simple-to-monitor metrics such as carbon<br \/>\nemissions, deforestation, or ocean exploitation.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIn addition, the fiscal space that is created by swaps could be increased<br \/>\nby improving the terms of the transaction in three ways:\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Include as large a share of a country\u2019s debt as possible. This requires<br \/>\n    more financing and, to this end, more third parties such as governments,<br \/>\n    foundations and civil-society organizations could be encouraged to buy debt<br \/>\n    on secondary markets and use it for climate or nature swaps.<\/li>\n<li>Repurchase debt at the lowest possible price, through carefully designed<br \/>\n    secondary-market transactions that minimize the increase in price as debt<br \/>\n    is bought back, or through incentives for creditors, such as allowing them<br \/>\n    to trade in carbon credits arising from the transaction.<\/li>\n<li>Minimize the cost of financing the debt buy-back. As in the above<br \/>\n    transactions, donors could offer partial guarantees that lower the risk for<br \/>\n    investors and reduce the expense.\n    <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\nWhile other institutions with relevant expertise must be involved and the<br \/>\nmarket participants able to arrange these complex transactions increased,<br \/>\nthe IMF can play an important supporting role. Through annual Article IV<br \/>\nconsultations, financing arrangements and capacity development, the Fund<br \/>\ncan help countries develop macroeconomic and budget frameworks to integrate<br \/>\nthe impact and thus support the use of swaps. Our debt sustainability<br \/>\nanalysis now includes the impact of natural disasters and climate change.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nOur new<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/en\/Topics\/Resilience-and-Sustainability-Trust\"><br \/>\nResilience and Sustainability Trust<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\ncould support resilience-enhancing climate-related policy reforms with<br \/>\naffordable long-term financing.<br \/>\n<a name=\"_Hlk121220124\"><br \/>\nThe resources could potentially be used to buy back expensive debt in<br \/>\ncases where this meaningfully reduces the debt-servicing burden.<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\nThe Trust also aims to catalyze additional official and private financing.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nReforms in the context of Fund-supported programs could allow country<br \/>\nauthorities to signal their policy ambitions, and possibly encourage<br \/>\nparties interested in swaps. Promising avenues include energy sector<br \/>\nreforms or the greening of public financial management.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIn sum, swaps can play a role in some circumstances. They are unlikely to<br \/>\nprovide a universal solution for countries struggling with debt or<br \/>\nconfronting climate change or nature loss. And they should not come at the<br \/>\nexpense of traditional debt relief or concessional finance. However, they<br \/>\ncan be scaled up to complement existing instruments and strengthen<br \/>\nresilience in countries on the front line of climate change and loss of<br \/>\nnatural biodiversity at a time when financing is scarce.<em\/><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/__i\/rss\/rd\/articles\/CBMidWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmltZi5vcmcvZW4vQmxvZ3MvQXJ0aWNsZXMvMjAyMi8xMi8xNC9zd2FwcGluZy1kZWJ0LWZvci1jbGltYXRlLW9yLW5hdHVyZS1wbGVkZ2VzLWNhbi1oZWxwLWZ1bmQtcmVzaWxpZW5jZdIBAA?oc=5\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Countries that are most vulnerable to climate change\u2014and the associated loss of natural biodiversity\u2014are often those least able to afford investment to strengthen resilience because their budgets are burdened by debt. Such countries face a high risk of fiscal crisis, IMF staff research\u00a0shows. Debt-for-climate swaps and debt-for-nature swaps seek to free up fiscal resources so &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[161],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39004"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}