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

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Gabon is refinancing $500 million of its debt through a deal aimed at directing more funds to ocean management

FILE - A forest elephant steps out of the forest in Gabon's Pongara National Park forest, on March 12, 2020. Gabon, an oil-rich Central African nation known for its biodiversity, hosts the world’s largest population of leatherback turtles and myriad other endangered species. By refinancing $500 million of its foreign debt, The Nature Conservancy estimates, Gabon will free up $163 million to expand its protected coastal areas and combat illegal overfishing in a deal announced Tuesday, Aug.

Since 2016, TNC has pulled off similar so-called “blue bond” agreements in the Seychelles, Belize and Barbados. But while donors and host governments pitch climate refinancing as a win-win solution for indebted nations, local populations and the environment, critics say such deals barely skim the surface of what’s needed to address climate change.

“That’s a joke, frankly, especially for an oil-rich country like Gabon,” said Hache. The average yearly income in Gabon is nearly $9,000, giving it the third-highest GDP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank. Even if the deal were effective, it would raise concerns about Gabon’s ability to make decisions for itself, Hache said. In the past, critics have viewed “debt-for-nature swaps” as impinging on the national sovereignty of indebted countries by placing financial and environmental decision-making power in the hands of foreign entities.

 

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