Financing Tropical Conservation: Debt-for-Nature Proposals for Ecuador and China

One of the world’s most biodiverse countries, Ecuador faces a triple challenge of countering Amazonian deforestation, while most public funds are committed to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and repaying large amounts of external debt. Amid this fiscal crunch, how can Ecuador's policymakers prioritize a shift to sustainable finance?

Carlos Larrea, Research Professor in Social Sciences at Ecuador’s Simón Bolívar Andean University, bridges these fiscal and environmental concerns in a new paper outlining possible debt-for-nature swap scenarios with China, Ecuador’s largest creditor. Dr. Larrea’s study presents two different innovative possibilities for greening Ecuador's debt crunch: one that promises to dramatically reduce deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon over the next ten years, and another that promotes local investments, like protecting the Colonso Chalupas Biological Reserve and strengthening the conservation research capacity of the Ikiam Amazon Regional University. In all the study demonstrates how debt-for-nature swaps could be a powerful policy tool amidst the converging climate, public health and fiscal crises.

On Wednesday, February 16, Dr. Larrea joined us for a discussion on financing tropical conservation in Ecuador with debt-for-nature swaps. This webinar is part of the Spring 2022 Global China Research Colloquium.