Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Debt-for-nature swap · Barbados · 2022

Barbados debt-for-nature swap

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

In September 2022 Barbados refinanced about US$150 million of debt through a Credit Suisse-led transaction backed by guarantees from the Inter-American Development Bank and The Nature Conservancy. The record reviewed puts the conservation commitment at US$50 million.

US$150m: US$50mDebt converted vs conservation money committed
Face value of debt bought back or converted; conservation commitment. Figures as reported.

Status As of the sources reviewed: the transaction closed in September 2022; no evaluation of conservation outcomes found.

What?
A debt-for-nature transaction in which Barbados refinanced about US$150 million of debt with a US$146.5 million bond backed by guarantees, and committed US$50 million to conservation. Credit Suisse
Where?
Barbados. Credit Suisse
When?
September 2022. Credit Suisse
Who?
Gained
  • Credit Suisse and CIBC FirstCaribbean — Arranged the transaction as global and domestic lead; their remuneration is not stated in the sources reviewed. Credit Suisse
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The sources reviewed do not state the government's stated rationale for this transaction.
How?
Debt was bought back or converted using a bond of US$146.5 million; the IDB guaranteed US$100 million and TNC US$50 million. Credit Suisse
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In September 2022 Barbados completed a debt-for-nature transaction arranged by Credit Suisse as global lead, with CIBC FirstCaribbean as domestic lead. The record reviewed gives the size of the transaction as US$150 million, and the bond issued as US$146.5 million.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) provided a guarantee of US$100 million and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) a guarantee of US$50 million. Barbados committed US$50 million to conservation.

Barbados is one of several swaps in which Credit Suisse and TNC were involved, alongside Belize (2021) and Ecuador-Galápagos (2023). In the Belize and Galápagos transactions the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) provided insurance; the record reviewed does not show DFC cover for Barbados.

  1. 2022Barbados debt-for-nature transaction closed in September: about US$150m of debt, US$146.5m bond, US$50m for conservation

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Credit Suisse acted as global lead and CIBC FirstCaribbean as domestic lead.
      Credit Suisse
    • Guarantees: IDB US$100m, TNC US$50m.
      Credit Suisse
    • Bond issued: US$146.5m; debt bought back or converted: US$150m; conservation commitment: US$50m.
      Credit Suisse

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    $50m
    Conservation money committed$50m

    Gained elsewhere

    Not totalled
    Reached the ground
    $50m
    Currency: USD · Window: 2022. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Conservation money committed
    US$50m
    Against US$150m of debt bought back or converted, as reported
    Independent ecological evaluation
    None on record
    The sources reviewed do not describe any measured outcome for nature

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record Fees or margins paid to the arranging banks and other advisers in the Barbados transaction: no figure appears in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record Duration of the conservation commitment and who manages it: not stated in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record Ecological results of the transaction: no evaluation appears in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not on record.

    Who paid?

    Not established in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Company or project

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Carbon and conservation finance

    Debt-for-nature swap
    A deal in which a government's debt is bought back or refinanced at a discount, and part of the savings is committed to conservation.

    Places and local terms

    Conservancy (Kenya)
    In Kenya, land managed by a community or private owners for wildlife alongside grazing, often with outside partners.

    Institutions

    DFC
    The US International Development Finance Corporation, a government agency that lends to and insures private projects abroad.
    IDB
    The Inter-American Development Bank.

    Bonds and banking

    Arranger
    The bank that structures and sells a bond or loan deal, usually for a fee.
    Guarantee
    A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.
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