La Trampa Verde de los Canjes de Deuda por Naturaleza

The document critiques debt-for-nature swaps (DNS) as a 'green trap' that fails to provide real debt relief or effective conservation. It argues that these mechanisms, particularly recent market-based 'blue bonds', transfer territorial control to international NGOs and private actors, often imposing higher interest rates and restrictive conditionalities. The report highlights how sovereign debt forces Global South countries into extractivist models to generate foreign currency, and calls for the cancellation of illegitimate debts and the recognition of the North's ecological debt to the South.

• Debt-for-nature swaps (DNS) are presented as a 'win-win' solution, but their financial impact is negligible; between 1987 and 2023, 202 agreements involving $8.4 billion were executed, representing only 0.1% of the $7.6 trillion paid in debt by Global South countries during that period.
• Recent DNS models involving 'blue' or 'nature' bonds often result in the debtor country acquiring a new loan with higher interest rates than the original debt, benefiting the intermediary NGO and private creditors.
• The report identifies a 'green colonialism' where DNS transfer territorial control and policy-making power to foreign NGOs and private actors, often without the consent of local communities.
• Sovereign debt acts as a driver of ecological destruction because countries must expand extractivist industries—such as mining, oil, gas, and agribusiness—to obtain the strong currencies (USD, EUR) required for debt service.
• In recent DNS cases, a significant portion of the funds is diverted to transaction costs and financial fees rather than direct conservation. For example, in Belize's 2021 blue bond, only $84 million of the $178 million earmarked for marine conservation were used for direct actions, with $86 million covering transaction costs.
• DNS can lead to human rights violations, including the displacement of indigenous and rural populations and the restriction of traditional livelihoods, as seen in historical cases in Bolivia (1987), Costa Rica (1989), and Mexico (1991).
• The report argues that the Global North owes an 'ecological debt' to the South due to centuries of colonial extraction and atmospheric pollution, estimating that wealthy nations should pay $170 trillion by 2050 to compensate for atmospheric colonization.
• The use of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) registered in tax havens (such as Delaware or Ireland) for DNS operations reduces transparency and hinders social oversight of the funds.

APA

Gomez, J. P. P. (2025). La Trampa Verde de los Canjes de Deuda por Naturaleza. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/41-FoEI-Debt-for-Nature-Swap-Report-ES-rhr.pdf

Chicago

Gomez, Johana Paola Peña. La Trampa Verde de los Canjes de Deuda por Naturaleza. Friends of the Earth International, 2025. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/41-FoEI-Debt-for-Nature-Swap-Report-ES-rhr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gomez |first1=Johana Paola Peña |title=La Trampa Verde de los Canjes de Deuda por Naturaleza |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=2025 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/41-FoEI-Debt-for-Nature-Swap-Report-ES-rhr.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gomez2025trampa, author = {Gomez, Johana Paola Peña}, title = {{La Trampa Verde de los Canjes de Deuda por Naturaleza}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2025}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/41-FoEI-Debt-for-Nature-Swap-Report-ES-rhr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }