Cases / Debt-for-nature swap · El Salvador · 2024–2025
El Salvador 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.
In October 2024 JPMorgan arranged and lent US$1 billion for a Lempa River programme in a debt-for-nature transaction with El Salvador, backed by political risk insurance from the US Development Finance Corporation.
US$1 billionLoan arranged and lent by JPMorgan for the Lempa River programme
October 2024; the DFC cover amount is not given in the source reviewed.
October 2024; the DFC cover amount is not given in the source reviewed.
Status As of May 2025 (latest dated source): the US$1 billion loan closed in October 2024; no insurance claim has been reported; the DFC cover amount is not given in the source reviewed.
What?
A debt-for-nature transaction in which JPMorgan was sole arranger and lender of a US$1 billion loan for the Lempa River programme, with DFC political risk insurance. JPMorgan
Where?
El Salvador, Lempa River programme; arranged by a United States bank with United States agency insurance. JPMorgan
When?
October 2024; JPMorgan's page is dated 19 November 2024. JPMorgan
Who?
Gained
- JPMorgan — Arranger and lender; its fees were not found JPMorgan
- DFC — Insurer; premium not found US International Development Finance Corporation
Lost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
The record gives the DFC's full cover as the reason borrowing could be refinanced more cheaply. Center for Global Development
How?
A loan arranged and lent by JPMorgan, with DFC political risk insurance on the principal and CAF standby letters of credit on the coupons. JPMorgan
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
In October 2024 El Salvador completed a debt-for-nature transaction. JPMorgan described itself as sole arranger and lender of a US$1 billion loan for the Lempa River programme. A page on JPMorgan's website dated 19 November 2024 said the bank "played a key part in El Salvador's innovative debt-for-nature transaction" and named no non-governmental organisation.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) provided political risk insurance. The amount of cover is not given in the source reviewed. According to the record, the cover is largely limited to the principal amount and is triggered if an arbitral tribunal recognises that El Salvador has defaulted; coupons are covered separately by standby letters of credit from CAF, listed at US$200 million. A search snippet of JPMorgan's page gave the nominal debt as US$1.031 billion and the conservation commitment as about US$352 million over 20 years; these figures were not independently verified.
The Center for Global Development wrote that DFC political risk insurance can cover up to 100% of a loan, against 40% to 60% for multilateral development bank guarantees, and that this full cover is what allows cheaper refinancing. In November 2024 an Inter-American Development Bank official put the first five deals of the series, from Belize to El Salvador, at US$3.8 billion in nominal terms. Reuters reported on 22 May 2025 that DFC had backed nearly 90% of about US$6 billion of swapped debt, that DFC backing had become uncertain after the change in US policy, and that about five pipeline deals, including Angola and Zambia, were in doubt.
The record records two links between the arranger and the conservation sector. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) lists Douglas Petno, a JPMorgan co-president and chief executive of its Commercial & Investment Bank, as a director from May 2018 to October 2027, and TNC says its NatureVest unit was set up in 2014 with founding support from JPMorgan. TNC is not named on JPMorgan's page for this transaction and is not among the six projects listed under its Nature Bonds programme.
- 2024October: US$1 billion loan for the Lempa River programme arranged and lent by JPMorgan, with DFC political risk insurance; 19 November: JPMorgan publishes its account; November: IDB official puts the first five swaps at US$3.8 billion nominal
- 202522 May: Reuters reports DFC backing nearly 90% of swapped debt and uncertain after the US policy change; no closed swaps were found for 2025 to 2026 in the sources reviewed
What was said
Claims, in the words of those who made them.
“played a key part in El Salvador's innovative debt-for-nature transaction”
“US$3.8 billion”
“We won't be able to do debt conversions that regularly.”
How it looked
What was shown, beside what was recorded.
Shown
- The transaction as innovative, with JPMorgan playing a key partJPMorgan · JPMorgan
Recorded
- JPMorgan was sole arranger and lender of a US$1 billion loan for the Lempa River programme; no non-governmental organisation is named on its page
- DFC provided political risk insurance; the amount of cover is not given in the source reviewed
- The DFC cover is largely limited to the principal amount and is triggered if an arbitral tribunal recognises that El Salvador has defaulted; coupons are covered separately by CAF standby letters of credit (listed at US$200 million in a research table)
- DFC political risk insurance covers up to 100% of a loan, against 40% to 60% for multilateral guarantees; the full cover is what allows cheaper refinancing (Center for Global Development)
- Breaching conservation commitments may force mandatory redemption (White & Case)
- No claims have been reported on any debt-for-nature swap; across OPIC and DFC from 1971 to 2024, 311 claims led to about US$1.06 billion paid, of which about US$1.02 billion (96%) was recovered from host governments
- Reuters, 22 May 2025: DFC backed nearly 90% of about US$6 billion of swapped debt; about five pipeline deals, including Angola and Zambia, were in doubt
- Douglas Petno, co-president of JPMorganChase and chief executive of its Commercial & Investment Bank, is listed as a TNC director with a term from May 2018 to October 2027
- JPMorgan's leadership page says he is a member of the Global Board of Directors for The Nature Conservancy
- TNC says NatureVest was set up in 2014 with founding support from JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- TNC Nature Bonds projects listed in the record are Belize, Barbados, Gabon, Bahamas, Ecuador (2024) and the 2016 Seychelles pilot; El Salvador is not among them
- Banking on Climate Chaos 2026 ranks JPMorgan first among fossil fuel financiers in 2025 (US$58.2 billion); JPMorgan announced a US$2.5 trillion sustainable finance target for 2021 to 2030 in April 2021
- Of the seven swaps from 2021 to 2024 in the record (about US$3.97 billion nominal), four banks arranged all seven; JPMorgan arranged one, about 25% of the total by value (research calculation)
Who gained
Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.
Reached nature or the ground
Not published
No figure published.
Gained elsewhere
Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: 2024. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.
Responses on record
- jpmorgan (19 November 2024): Said it "played a key part in El Salvador's innovative debt-for-nature transaction" and was sole arranger and lender of a US$1 billion loan for the Lempa River programme. · JPMorgan
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
- 2024No policy foundUS International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) → Lender of the US$1 billion loan (JPMorgan, sole arranger and lender according to its own page)
Political risk insurance for the loan. The amount of cover is not given in the source reviewed. The record says the cover is largely limited to the principal amount and is triggered if an arbitral tribunal recognises that El Salvador has defaulted; coupons are covered separately by CAF standby letters of credit. No claims have been reported on any debt-for-nature swap. US International Development Finance Corporation
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.
Loan for the Lempa River programme
US$1 billion
Arranged and lent by JPMorgan, October 2024
DFC insurance cover
Not given
Amount not given in the source reviewed
Insurance claims on any debt-for-nature swap
None reported
Research file; DFC overall 311 claims from 1971 to 2024
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.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Insurers
- Unclear US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC): no decision on record.
Figures
- Insufficient Debt nominal retired: From a search snippet of JPMorgan's page; not independently verified.
- Insufficient Conservation commitment: Over 20 years; from a search snippet; not independently verified.
Record
- None on record The amount of the DFC cover for El Salvador is not given in the source reviewed.
- None on record DFC premium amounts and arranger fees were not found for the Belize and Galápagos swaps in the same record.
- None on record No insurance claim has been reported on any debt-for-nature swap.
- None on record No non-governmental organisation is named on JPMorgan's page for this transaction.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: nominal debt of US$1.031 billion and a conservation commitment of about US$352 million over 20 years, from a search snippet of JPMorgan's page.
- None on record No closed debt-for-nature swaps were found for 2025 to 2026 in the sources reviewed; AXA XL and Enosis announced a US$3 billion pipeline.
Did the harm stop?
Not applicable: the record records no harm event for this transaction.
Who paid?
Not established. DFC political risk insurance covers the loan principal; the cost of the cover and the arranger's fees were not found.
Sources
Voices on record: ✓ Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers
Company or project
- El Salvador debt-for-nature transactionJPMorgan · 2024-11-19
- Douglas PetnoJPMorganChase ·
Government and regulators
- World's largest debt conversion for the conservation of a river and its watershed completed (title as in the URL)US International Development Finance Corporation ·
Press and investigations
Communities and civil society
- TNC 2025 Annual Report (board list as of 31 December 2025)The Nature Conservancy · 2025
- Companies investing in natureThe Nature Conservancy ·
- Banking on Climate Chaos 2026Banking on Climate Chaos · 2026
Researchers
- Debt swaps in war zones: DFC's political risk insurance takes center stageCenter for Global Development ·
- White & Case discusses debt-for-nature swapsColumbia Law School Blue Sky Blog · 2025-01-14
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