Which countries have completed debt swaps for nature and climate

LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Debt swaps are becoming a more widely used tool to help indebted countries raise money for conservation or climate-related projects.

Under a swap, a country buys back more expensive debt and replaces it with cheaper debt, usually with the help of a development bank. The savings are then used for environmental projects that restore mangroves or protect oceans, or help adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Here is a list of countries which have completed them in recent years.

The Bahamas unlocked more than $120 million in November to fund the conservation and management of its oceans and mangroves with a $300 million debt swap financed by Standard Chartered and backed by the private sector.

El Salvador freed up $352 million in October to fund the conservation of the Rio Lempa, the country's main river and its watershed. At the time, the deal was the largest funding commitment a country had made for conservation as part of a debt-for-nature swap.

The deal was financed by a $1 billion loan from JP Morgan with $1 billion political risk insurance cover from DFC, the United States' development finance institution, and a $200 million standby letter of credit from CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, likely lowering the cost of the lending.

The Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most precious ecosystems, was the conservation focus of Ecuador'...
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