A $500 million deal to restore Gabon’s coast reignites climate finance debate

By ZANE IRWIN
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gabon is refinancing $500 million of its debt through a deal aimed at directing more funds to ocean management. The so-called “debt-for-nature swap” is brokered by The Nature Conservancy, a leading international environmental NGO, which negotiated a deal with the Bank of America to buy back some of the Central African nation’s debt on more favorable terms. With the savings from lower interest rates on the new so-called “blue bonds,” Gabon will free up $4.5 million per year to help curb illegal overfishing and expand protected areas along its coast. Critics say the deal and others like stand in the way of meaningful efforts by wealthy nations to combat climate change by curbing their own emissions.