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 · Gabon · 2023

Gabon 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: 4 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

In August 2023 Gabon bought back a US$500 million bond at US$436 million and issued a US$500 million blue bond with a US cover from the DFC. The Nature Conservancy sponsored the deal; Bank of America did not disclose its fee.

US$163 millionConservation funding committed over 15 years
Against a US$500 million bond bought back for US$436 million. Figures as reported; no comparison is computed here.

Status As of June 2026 (latest dated source): the sources reviewed report no claim on the DFC cover and no disclosure of Bank of America's fee.

What?
Gabon bought back a US$500 million bond for US$436 million and issued a US$500 million blue bond with DFC insurance, committing US$163 million to conservation over 15 years. BusinessDay
Where?
Gabon. BusinessDay
When?
August 2023. Bank of America
Who?
Gained
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Gabon's own rating was Caa1; DFC insurance gave the new bond an Aa2 rating.
How?
Buyback of an existing bond with proceeds from a new bond insured by DFC; Bank of America structured it for a TNC-sponsored project. Bank of America
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In August 2023 Gabon bought back a US$500 million bond for US$436 million and issued a new US$500 million blue bond in its place. BusinessDay reported the swap as covering about 4 per cent of Gabon's total debt. Bank of America acted as sole initial purchaser, structuring agent and bookrunner on the US$500 million issuance, and described the deal as the highest amount of new debt raised for a project sponsored by The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

The new bond carried a coupon of 6.097 per cent and falls due in 2038. With insurance from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) the bond received an Aa2 rating, while Gabon's own rating was Caa1. Gabon committed US$163 million to conservation over 15 years.

The Observer Research Foundation (ORF) reported that the nominal value of the debt was unchanged and that Gabon Blue Conservation, registered abroad, takes 20 per cent of the savings as a management fee. ORF is the only source for the 20 per cent figure in the material reviewed. Bank of America did not disclose its fee.

  1. 202315 August: Gabon buys back a US$500 million bond for US$436 million and issues a new US$500 million blue bond; Bank of America structures it; DFC insures it

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“Bank of America acted as Sole Initial Purchaser, Structuring Agent and Bookrunner on the $500 million issuance.”

“the highest amount of new debt raised for a TNC-sponsored project.”

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Did the swap reduce Gabon's debt?
Researchers
Observer Research Foundation

The nominal value of the debt was unchanged.

Observer Research Foundation
Press and investigations
BusinessDay

The swap covered about 4 per cent of Gabon's total debt.

BusinessDay
What did the intermediaries earn?
Company or project
Bank of America

Did not disclose its fee.

BusinessDay
Researchers
Observer Research Foundation

Gabon Blue Conservation, registered abroad, reportedly takes 20 per cent of the savings as a management fee; the only source in the material reviewed.

Observer Research Foundation

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The deal was presented as a debt-for-nature swap and as the highest amount of new debt raised for a TNC-sponsored project
    Bank of America newsroom, 15 August 2023 · Bank of America

Recorded

  • A US$500 million bond was bought back for US$436 million; the swap was about 4% of total debt
    BusinessDay
  • Bank of America did not disclose its fee
    BusinessDay
  • Coupon 6.097%, due 2038; Aa2 rating with DFC insurance against Gabon's own Caa1; US$163 million to conservation over 15 years
  • The nominal value of the debt was unchanged; Gabon Blue Conservation reportedly takes 20% of savings as a management fee (single source)
    Observer Research Foundation

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

$163m
Single documented commitment.
Committed conservation funding$163m
A commitment over 15 years, not an amount paid.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Reached the ground
$163m
Currency: USD · Window: 15 years. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Bank of America (2023-08-15): Described its role as sole initial purchaser, structuring agent and bookrunner and called the deal the highest amount of new debt raised for a TNC-sponsored project; did not disclose its fee. · Bank of America

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

  1. 2023No policy found$500m up to US$500 million
    US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) → Gabon blue bond

    Political risk insurance on the bond; DFC cover can reach 100 per cent of a loan, against 40 to 60 per cent for multilateral guarantees (CGD). No claim has been reported on any debt-for-nature swap. Center for Global Development

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 funding committed
US$163 million
Over 15 years
Nominal debt
Unchanged
ORF
Independent ecological evaluation
Not in the sources reviewed
No evaluation appears in the sources

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosedNo court case

Nature

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

Court

Insurers

  • Unclear US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC): no decision on record.

Figures

  • Insufficient Management fee share: Reported by ORF only; single source.

Accounts

Record

  • Not disclosed Bank of America did not disclose its fee for the transaction.
  • None on record The 20 per cent management fee to Gabon Blue Conservation comes from a single source (ORF).
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a military coup took place in Gabon about two weeks after the transaction.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the law firms Clifford Chance and Hogan Lovells earned advisory fees on debt-for-nature swaps.
  • None on record No claim on the DFC cover has been reported on any debt-for-nature swap.

Did the harm stop?

Not applicable: the record documents a financing transaction, not harm to nature.

Who paid?

The sources reviewed state that the DFC, a US government agency, covers political risk on the bond, which places risk on US taxpayers.

Sources

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

Company or project

  1. Newsroom: Gabon debt-for-nature deal
    Bank of America · 2023-08-15

Press and investigations

Researchers

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

Blue bond
A bond or loan whose terms or proceeds are tied to ocean and marine conservation.
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.

Institutions

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

Places and local terms

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

Bonds and banking

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

Insurance

Political-risk insurance
Insurance that protects lenders and investors against losses caused by government actions, such as a state failing to pay.
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