How Belize Cut Its Debt by Fighting Global Warming

The fishermen use methods little modified over the centuries: They dive to wood overhangs constructed on the seabed and seize crustaceans or use lengthy poles to haul lobster traps to their boats.

About a dozen rangers patrol the atoll’s waters, checking fishing licenses and the dimensions of caught lobsters to guard the shares. They mentioned they want extra gas, personnel, radios and weapons to raised shield the reserve. Because of gas shortages, the coast guardsmen stationed on the atoll not often go away their outpost.

“If we have the resources, we can reach the right balance in the ecosystem,” mentioned Valdemar Andrade, the reserve’s supervisor.

The Nature Conservancy closed its third blue bonds deal in September with Barbados, one other small Caribbean nation saddled with debt and dealing with local weather change threats. Countries with bigger economies, together with Ecuador and Sri Lanka, have made related debt swap proposals.

Government officers and environmental teams hope the unfold of such preparations will make local weather change a think about how non-public traders, multilateral organizations just like the International Monetary Fund and sovereign collectors like China lend and recuperate trillions of {dollars} from poorer nations.

“The global financial architecture is just not wired to give countries meaningful credit for positive nature investments,” mentioned Slav Gatchev, the top of the Nature Conservancy’s sustainable debt division.