Exploring the Role of Debt Swaps in Climate Finance

July 24, 2025

This episode explores the potential of debt-for-climate swaps as a strategic tool to address climate challenges and fiscal constraints in developing countries. While implementation has often been slow and fragmented, the conversation examines practical experiences from regions like Latin America and Africa, and highlights how such mechanisms can support national development strategies when backed by credible governance, strong partnerships, and financial innovation.

Speakers
Rim Berahab
Senior Economist
Rim Berahab is Senior Economist at the Policy Center for the New South, which she joined in 2014. She is currently working on themes related to energy issues and their impacts on economic growth and long-term development. Her research areas also cover trade and regional integration challenges in Africa. Previously, she has also worked on questions related to gender inequalities in the labor market of North African countries. Rim spent three months at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2016, in the Commodities Unit of the Research Department. She holds a State Engineering degree from the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEA). ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Chami Abdelilah
    Derj Atar
    Hammi Ibtissem
    Morazzo Mariano
    Naciri Yassine
    with the technical support of AFRY
    July 9, 2021
    The consequences of climate change are becoming progressively more visible in Morocco. Changes in rainfall patterns and drought, increases in average temperatures and heatwaves, flooding, and rising sea levels are increasingly affecting several regions. Yet, Morocco has a relatively low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rate, compared to other countries. In 20162, Morocco’s total GHG emissions reached 86127.7 gigagram of carbon dioxide equivalent (Gg CO2-eq), totaling around 0.2% of glo ...
  • Authors
    Chami Abdelilah
    Derj Atar
    Hammi Ibtissem
    Morazzo Mariano
    Naciri Yassine
    with the technical support of AFRY
    July 9, 2021
    Les importantes ressources en énergies renouvelables du Maroc offrent une opportunité sans précédent d’ancrer les choix économiques et politiques du pays dans la transition énergétique, et de faire de cette transition un levier essentiel du développement économique. Ceci est d’autant plus important que le coût des énergies renouvelables a baissé au cours des 10 dernières années2 et présente désormais un fort potentiel, non seulement de création d’emplois verts mais aussi de croissan ...
  • Authors
    Chami Abdelilah
    Derj Atar
    Hammi Ibtissem
    Morazzo Mariano
    Naciri Yassine
    with the technical support of AFRY
    July 9, 2021
    Les conséquences du changement climatique sont de plus en plus visibles au Maroc. Le schéma changeant des précipitations et de la sécheresse, l'augmentation des températures moyennes et des canicules, les inondations et l'augmentation du niveau de la mer affectent de plus en plus de nombreuses régions. Et pourtant, le taux d'émission de gaz à effet de serre (GES) du Maroc est relativement faible, comparé à celui d'autres pays. En 20162, les émissions totales de GES du Maroc ont atte ...
  • Authors
    Chami Abdelilah
    Derj Atar
    Hammi Ibtissem
    Morazzo Mariano
    Naciri Yassine
    with the technical support of AFRY
    June 28, 2021
    Lors de la Conférence des Parties à la Convention-cadre des Nations unies sur les changements climatiques (CCNUCC) qui s'est tenue à Paris en 2015, les gouvernements se sont engagés à limiter l'augmentation de la température mondiale à un niveau bien inférieur à 2°C par rapport aux niveaux préindustriels. Ils se sont également engagés à atteindre, dès que possible, un pic de leurs émissions et à parvenir à la neutralité carbone au cours de la seconde moitié du siècle. Pour autant, m ...
  • Authors
    Chami Abdelilah
    Derj Atar
    Hammi Ibtissem
    Morazzo Mariano
    Naciri Yassine
    with the technical support of AFRY
    June 28, 2021
    During the 2015 Paris Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), governments pledged to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre- industrial levels, to peak emissions as soon as possible, and to achieve carbon neutrality in the second half of the century. Yet, even assuming full implementation of the commitments made by governments in Paris, the global concentration of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions will ...
  • Authors
    Bruno Souza
    June 18, 2021
    This paper estimates the economic impacts of climate change over the Brazilian regions until the end of the century. We estimate the direct and indirect impact of the projected changes in climate on the yield of the country’s main crops. The results point to a broad spatial heterogeneity of impacts across the country. Using the extreme scenarios created by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (RCP 2.6 and 8.5), our predictions indicate that the average annual losses ...
  • June 16, 2021
    It is now an established fact that investment in infrastructure is considered as a driver for economic growth. It acts through different channels. In the short run, the construction phase of any projects often implies the direct creation of new jobs and an indirect creation of on periph...
  • Authors
    May 31, 2021
    China is the world's largest exporter of goods. It is also, by any plausible criterion, a developing country. China's dual status needs to be better reflected in Chinese policies - recognizing its global responsibilities -- and in those of the Western powers - recognizing China's limitations. Across three important agendas - macroeconomics, development assistance, and climate - important differences between China and the West remain, yet none of these issues appears intractable. ...
  • April 28, 2021
    There are three major reasons for central banks to engage on climate change issues. The first is the set of – physical and transition - risks to financial stability potentially brought about by natural disasters and trends derived from climate change. Second, the potential impact of cli...
  • Authors
    Hanae Bezad
    Maximo Plo Seco
    Roger Hilton
    December 10, 2020
    The Atlantic basin faces considerable challenges on multiple fronts. Financial and economic struggles, coupled with political shifts and social turmoil, are reshaping the region’s geopolitical landscape. Unemployment, poverty, violence, migration, extremism, climate change and other problems are on the rise and the need to tackle them effectively is pressing. To find adequate solutions to these challenges, it is crucial to create inclusive discussions between the North and the Sout ...