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 · Ecuador · 2023–2041

Galápagos 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: 2 none on record · 3 not disclosed · 2 not measured See the gaps

Described as the world's largest debt conversion for marine conservation. By the end of 2025, about $3.8 million in grants had been assigned.

$37m / $3.8mFirst-year investor interest vs grants assigned by end-2025
Different time windows; not a ratio. See Who gained.
What?
In May 2023 Ecuador exchanged $1.63bn of bonds for a $656m conservation-linked loan and committed about $323m over 18.5 years to Galápagos marine conservation. US DFC
Where?
Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, including the Hermandad Marine Reserve (about 60,000 km²). US DFC
When?
Reserve created January 2022; swap closed 9 May 2023; first project approved December 2024; about $3.8m in grants assigned in 2025; bond matures 2041.
Who?
Gained
  • Government of Ecuador — $1.1bn in lifetime debt-service savings, according to DFC. US DFC
  • Bond investors — About $37m in interest in the first year (5.645% on $656m, estimate). Yale Journal of International Affairs
  • Insurers, guarantor and arranger (DFC and reinsurers, IDB, Credit Suisse/UBS) — About $11.4m in the first year from the gap between the coupon and Ecuador's effective cost (estimate); the arranger fee was not disclosed. Yale Journal of International Affairs
Lost
  • Artisanal fishers — Report concern over losing access to fishing grounds; the Ministry of Environment said no consultation was held on the swap itself. CFFA
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Stated purpose: the “largest debt conversion for marine conservation to protect the Galápagos” (DFC). For Ecuador, the deal reduced its debt. US DFC
How?
Ecuador bought its bonds back at about 40 cents on the dollar with a $656m loan financed by a Credit Suisse bond; DFC insured it and passed more than half the risk to reinsurers. The savings fund the Galápagos Life Fund, registered in Delaware, where government seats are a minority. Yale Journal of International Affairs
In proportion Ecuador's effective borrowing cost rose from 5.6% to 7.4% once insurance, guarantee and fees were added. Yale Journal of International Affairs
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 9 May 2023 Ecuador exchanged $1.63 billion face value of its international bonds for a $656 million loan. It bought the old bonds back at about 40 cents on the dollar, roughly $644 million.

The new debt was financed by a $656 million "Galápagos marine conservation-linked bond" issued through Credit Suisse, maturing in 2041, paying investors 5.645% a year.

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) gave $656 million in political-risk insurance and passed more than half of the risk to private reinsurers. The Inter-American Development Bank gave an $85 million guarantee.

In return Ecuador committed about $323 million to Galápagos conservation over 18.5 years, through the Galápagos Life Fund, registered in Delaware.

The first approved project, in December 2024, was surveillance of the Hermandad Marine Reserve. That reserve had been created in January 2022, before the swap. In 2025 the fund assigned about $3.8 million in community grants.

  1. 2022Hermandad Marine Reserve created (about 60,000 km²)
  2. 2023Swap closes 9 May; $656m bond issued
  3. 2024First approved project: reserve surveillance (Dec)
  4. 2025About $3.8m in community grants assigned (May and Dec)
  5. 2041Bond matures

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“Largest Debt Conversion for Marine Conservation to Protect the Galápagos.”

US DFC press release · May 2023 · US DFC

“This debt-for-nature exchange, the world's largest…”

Gustavo Manrique, then Foreign Minister of Ecuador · May 2023 · US DFC

“An extraordinary win for nature and people.”

Giuseppe Di Carlo, Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy · May 2023 · US DFC

“These entities earned relatively high fees as a share of the bond's total issuance value.”

“…privatize the management of strategic areas without the consent of those who inhabit these territories.”

Eva Martínez, lawyer, CDES (via CFFA) · June 2025 · CFFA

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The world's largest debt-for-nature swap
  • $1.1 billion saved for Ecuador
  • More than $450 million for the Galápagos
  • A win for nature and people

Recorded

  • Grants assigned by end-2025: about $3.8m
  • The protected reserve existed before the swap
  • Effective borrowing cost rises from 5.6% to 7.4% with insurance, guarantee and fees
  • Fund registered in Delaware; government seats are a minority

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

≈ $3.8m
Assigned by end-2025. The $323m is a commitment.
Community grants assigned (2025)$3.8m
Window: to end-2025
Committed over 18.5 years (projection, not audited) commitment$323m
Window: 2023–2041

Gained elsewhere

≈ $48m*
First year only.
Investor interest, first year estimate$37m
Window: year 1
5.645% × $656m.
Insurance, guarantee and fee spread, first year estimate$11m
Window: year 1
(7.387% − 5.645%) × $656m; falls as principal is repaid.
Arranger fee (Credit Suisse/UBS)—
Window: —
Not disclosed.
Currency: USD · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * 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

  1. 2023Paid$656m political-risk cover issued
    US DFC, with private reinsurers (AXA XL, Chubb and others) → Bond investors

    DFC issued political-risk insurance and passed more than half of the risk to private reinsurers; no claim has been reported. US DFC

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.

Grants assigned
$3.8m
By end-2025, of $323m committed
New protected area from the swap
None
Hermandad reserve predates it
Independent ecological evaluation
None
None found

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluationKey earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

Money

  • Not disclosed Arranger fee (Credit Suisse/UBS) — Not disclosed.

Court

Record

  • Not disclosed Fees earned by Credit Suisse/UBS as arranger: not disclosed.
  • Not disclosed The DFC insurance premium and the IDB guarantee fee: not disclosed.
  • Not measured No independent ecological evaluation of the swap exists.
  • None on record Ecuador's Ministry of Environment said there was consultation for the reserve but none for the swap.

Did the harm stop?

No specific harm was named for the swap to stop. The reserve it funds was declared a year earlier.

Who paid?

Ecuador pays the coupon, premiums and fees until 2041. Artisanal fishers report concern over access to fishing grounds.

Sources

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

Government and regulators

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

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

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.
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.
Coupon
The interest rate a bond pays its investors each year.
Delaware, Guernsey, Cayman Islands
Jurisdictions widely used to register companies, funds and accounts for legal, confidentiality and tax reasons.
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.
Premium
The price paid for an insurance policy.
Reinsurance
Insurance bought by insurers to pass part of their own risk to other companies.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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