Climate Change - Terra's Liege

Debt-for-Nature Swaps: A Win-Win for Climate and Development

July 27, 2025 Cindy Wanjiku 4 Comments

Debt-for-nature swaps are making headlines as a form of climate finance that reduces a country’s debt in return for environmental commitments. With the cost of mitigating climate change estimated to be between $3-6 trillion a year globally by 2050 according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), innovative financial mechanisms like debt-for-nature swaps are crucial for supporting developing countries in their transition to a more sustainable and climate-resilient economy.

What are Debt-for-Nature Swaps?

These are financial instruments that allow countries to free up fiscal resources to combat climate crisis and protect nature and biodiversity. By doing this, countries can focus on sustainable development without incurring heavy financial burden. Creditors provide debt relief in return for a government’s commitment to decarbonize the economy, invest in climate-resilient infrastructure, or protect biodiversity.

For instance, a debt for nature swap can be an agreement between a creditor (bank or lending government) and debtor (developing country) to allow portions of a debtor’s foreign debt to be forgiven. This is done in exchange for commitments to invest in biodiversity conservation and environmental policy measures. This is most common in instances where debtor countries are at a high risk of defaulting loans and payments.

What are the benefits of debt-for-nature swaps?

A General Illustration of a Debt-for-Nature Swap by Christoph Nedopil

Debt-for-nature swaps offer several benefits. For debtor countries, they provide an opportunity to reduce external debt while investing in environmental conservation and climate change mitigation. For creditor entities, they offer a way to absolve themselves of high-risk debt relations. For the environment, they provide a means to protect biodiversity and promote sustainable development.

Challenges and Limitations

Despite the benefits, debt-for-nature swaps also come with challenges and limitations. Concerns have been raised about the potential risks associated with fluctuating exchange rates, inflation, and fiscal or liquidity crises in debtor countries. Additionally, there are concerns about debtor countries’ potential loss of legislative leverage and sovereignty to foreign entities, especially when bilateral or multilateral swaps are employed. These bonds and swaps can be set aside in favour of the agenda of the creditor and may not align with local conservation needs.

Debt relief can also lead to mismanagement of resources and the risk of corruption especially in low-income countries with a tendency to favour the elite and exclude communities at the grassroot that are primary custodians of natural resources.

Case Studies

Several countries have successfully implemented debt-for-nature swaps. For example, in 1987, Conservation International arranged the world’s first debt-for-nature swap, forgiving a portion of Bolivia’s foreign debt in exchange for the Bolivian government setting aside 3.7 million acres of land adjacent to the Amazon Basin for conservation purposes. In Africa, Seychelles in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility, Global Environment Facility, and the Nature Conservancy was able to protect up to 400,000 km² of ocean through a debt forgiveness of $27 million.

Conclusion

Debt-for-nature swaps offer a promising approach to addressing the climate crisis while promoting sustainable development. While there are challenges and limitations to be addressed, the benefits of debt-for-nature swaps make them an important tool in the fight against climate change. As the global community continues to seek innovative solutions to the climate crisis, debt-for-nature swaps are likely to play an increasingly important role.

Waste Management

Everything You Need To Know About Waste Colonialism

October 3, 2022 Cindy Wanjiku 4 Comments

Waste colonialism refers to the disposal of hazardous waste by high GDP countries into low GDP countries. The term was first recorded in 1989 at the United Nations Environmental Basel Convention when African nations raised concerns over the issue.

Apart from hazardous waste, high GDP countries have also been exporting their plastic and paper waste to poorer countries in a bid to cut down on their carbon emissions from incineration of the waste. These poor countries often lack effective waste management systems.

Until January 2018, about half of the world’s plastics and paper products were being dumped and recycled in China. However, in a bid to protect its environmental interests and the health of its populace, China banned imports of plastics and paper. This ban was also propelled by the mixing of hazardous wastes in the solid waste imported by China.

This left countries in the West struggling with the build-up of plastic and paper waste, as they scrambled to look for new markets for the waste. In 2020, a huge consignment of 141 containers filled with plastic waste being exported to Turkey from Germany was rejected by authorities as they had just banned the importation of mixed plastic waste.

*Exporters and Importers of Plastic Waste – Statista*

The problem

High GDP countries are the world’s largest producers of waste yet some of them are labelled as the world’s top recyclers. In 2017, Germany was named the world’s top recycler by the World Economic Forum. However, according to 2021 data from Statista, Germany was the leading exporter of plastic waste in the European Union.

Companies in the fossil fuel industry also continue to lobby for more plastic manufacturing and have set their eyes on Africa as the next market. During the US-Kenya trade negotiations in 2020, the American Chemistry Council – an industry group representing the world’s largest petrochemical companies, proposed Kenya as a future supply hub for US-made chemicals and plastics to other African countries.

If this deal had come to fruition, Kenya would have imported up to 500 million tonnes of plastic waste per year from the US. However, Kenya has neither the recycling capacity nor the storage capacity for this waste. Not only would this have led to more plastic waste in landfills, but Kenya would have had to lift one of the world’s strictest ban on single-use plastics.

High GPD countries generate twice as much waste per capita in comparison to low GDP countries. Lower-income countries already face challenges with their own solid waste and when higher-income countries export their solid waste, they are only exacerbating the global environmental risks brought on by plastic waste.

Who is fighting back and how?

In Asia, a historic leap against waste colonialism was made in 2022 when the US-based organization Ocean Conservancy (OC), retracted its 2015 report that blamed the global plastic waste problem on the continent. This was due to the fact that the report ignored the role played by countries in North America and Europe in plastic waste production. In addition, the report also proposed garbage incineration as a solution which led to years of greenhouse gas emissions.

To make up for its past actions, the OC has partnered with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) to begin a community- and sector-based restorative process. The restorative process prioritizes on plastic reduction policies.

In Africa, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and the Break Free from Plastic (BFFP) Africa continue to create awareness on the impact of waste colonialism. During Africa Day 2022, the two organizations together with 69 individuals and 136 organizations released a public statement calling on African leaders to stop waste colonialism in Africa.

What more can be done?

The GAIA + BFFP Africa public statement made some recommendations to what can be done in the fight against waste colonialism. Although these recommendations were made to African governments, they are applicable to all developing nations. The recommendations are:

Prevention of plastic waste dumping
Protection of existing and new legislation upholding right to a safe, clean and healthy, toxic-free environment
Exercising their right to refuse shipments of hazardous and plastic waste as provided by the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure and Information Exchange of the UNEP + Rotterdam Convention
Enforcing existing legislations that restrict and prohibit waste imports like the Basel and Bamako conventions
Adoption of national systems that are inclusive of waste pickers in waste management decision-making processes
Investing in ongoing discussions around global plastic treaty at the local and regional levels to address problems in the entire plastic value chain

What do you think of waste colonialism, let us know in the comment section.

Climate Change

ECO-ANXIETY: CAN CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH?

June 13, 2022 Cindy Wanjiku 10 Comments

The first time I heard the phrase eco-anxiety was during a Climate Change workshop I attended. It immediately piqued my interest because I had never thought of the impact climate change may have on our mental health. The more research I did the more I realised that it is quite a prevalent issue especially among the youth. This pushed me to write this article on it to discuss the issues surrounding eco-anxiety and what you can do to manage it.

What is Eco-anxiety?

Eco-anxiety is the chronic or severe fear of environmental damage or ecological disaster. Eco-anxiety is like generalised anxiety and stress, but it is mainly focused on the environment. Inadvertently, this results in a sense of anxiety that is based on the current and predicted state of the environment with regard to climate change.

There is a branch in psychology that deals with eco-anxiety known as eco-psychology which focuses on people’s psychological relationships with the natural environment and its connection to their well-being and health. Many people go to nature to centre and ground themselves so it’s only natural to get anxious when such a sacred sanctuary is threatened. However, it is not listed as a diagnosable mental health disorder, but it still warrants our attention.

The gradual impact of climate change and the impending doom associated with it push people to have anxiety over their future. Anxiety triggers a fight or flight response which requires a quick solution for imminent danger. Therefore, when people observe impacts like rising sea-levels, deforestation or changes in weather patterns it can cause them to feel threatened, scared and unsafe.

Research shows young people are feeling betrayed by governments and global leaders through their failure to take the necessary action to curb climate change which is exacerbating eco-anxiety among the young. According to an analysis by UN, by 2030 carbon emissions are set to rise by 16% instead of dropping by half which is the requirement to prevent reaching the 1.5°C mark set at COPs meetings.

Effects of Climate Change on Mental Health

Climate change impact on mental health can manifest in several ways:

Anxiety, depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), aggression, feeling hopeless and fearful, and feelings of trauma and shock. Chronic or severe stress can make people prone to other diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, sleeping problems, changes in appetite and depression.

Anxiety surrounding environmental issues can stem from real life experiences related to extreme weather such as droughts, hurricanes and wildfires. It hits harder if you have experienced it first-hand or have had loved ones go through it.

In addition, people may feel guilty due to their contribution and that of their generation to environmental degradation. In fact, young people wish to have fewer or no children to avoid them having to inherit a degraded world.

It has been observed that eco-anxiety or eco-angst mainly affects people who work in environmental jobs or as emergency health workers and first responders. Due to the nature of their jobs.

Furthermore, it affects people disproportionately, some people are more predisposed to the effects of climate change. For instance, those in indigenous and coastal communities, in low lying areas and islands and who rely on natural resources for their livelihoods (tourism, fishing and agriculture). Other groups include people of lower socio-economic status, children, young adults and elderly, displaced people, and refugees.

What can you do about eco-anxiety?

The silver lining in this story comes in the form of what we allow ourselves to consume. We should have access to reliable and factual information albeit in moderation, make greener choices in our day to day lives, team up with like-minded individuals and partake in plant-based diets. Other environmentally conscious practices are cycling and the use of public transport. Calculate your carbon footprint and find ways to reduce it. And finally spend more time in nature the very thing you are fighting so hard to protect and appreciate and build a connection with it. It may not seem like much but this can appease you psychologically and act as a remedy to the situation. Taking positive action can greatly improve our mental health and reduce feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.

Conclusion

It is normal to feel discouraged, angry and helpless over things beyond your control. However, if these feelings are overwhelming and interfere with your daily life it is best to seek medical advice. Moreover, allow yourself to go through the motions and have compassion for yourself. Go a step further and seek emotional and social support which can really boost resilience and optimism.

Biodiversity

Human-fueled Threats to Marine Life

September 23, 2021 Cindy Wanjiku 5 Comments

70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean and is home to 700,000-1,000,000 species, including my personal favorites, dolphins and orcas. It offers a wide array of habitats for marine creatures ranging from sea grass, mangroves, coral reefs and the water column. Unfortunately, our beautiful oceans are used as a dump site with 80% of pollution that ends up in the ocean coming from land-based activities. Effluent from factories and industries are major sources of pollution in rivers, a main conduit of pollution that winds up in oceans.

Pollution and other human activities are posing a serious threat to the state of the ocean and its corresponding marine life. Here are the major threats:

Climate Change

Climate change is inarguably the worst threat to marine life. Global warming is causing changes to the ocean chemistry and this in turn will affect marine species that depend on the stability of the ocean. One of these changes includes warming of the ocean water which reduces the ability of oxygen to dissolve into the sea water leading to diminished oxygen levels in the ocean for marine life. In addition, coral reefs are sensitive to warming oceans; the warm temperatures lead to coral bleaching and eventually death.

Coral bleaching occurs when colourful, microscopic algae called zooxanthellae is expelled by corals due to warming waters. The zooxanthellae live in the coral and the two have a mutually beneficial relationship; they depend on each other for survival. Once the algae are expelled the coral fades (turns white) and appears to be bleached. Without the algae the coral will eventually die. The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest reef is almost halfway bleached.

Secondly, ocean acidification caused by increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolving in the ocean leads to the eroding of shells of animals such as lobster, oysters, and shrimp.

Thirdly, climate change is also causing rising sea level which affects the habitat of many marine species.

Over-fishing

Fishing is not inherently bad; it only becomes an issue when we catch more fish than can be replenished naturally. This leads to overfishing. 31% of fish stocks are already depleted (overfished) according to FAO.

The main fishing gear used for commercial fishing is drift netting and trawling which has contributed to another problem, by-catch. By-catch is the unintentional catching of sea creatures when fishing for a different species (fish and shellfish). Examples of marine animals that get entangled in the gear are whales, dolphins, turtles, seals, sharks, and seabirds. In fact, a significant number of marine creatures are killed unintentionally by commercial fisheries.

Plastic waste

There are more than five trillion pieces of plastic swimming in our oceans. All the plastic bottles, straws, bags, and packaging material we have ever used wind up in oceans. It is estimated that 8 million tonnes of plastic are discarded into our oceans each year. The danger of all this plastic in our oceans is that it can result in choking and entangling of sea creatures. In addition, the plastic breaks down into micro-plastics that sea creatures mistake for food. This is bad because large amounts of plastic are found in the bellies of whales, and tiny fish feed on micro-plastics which can lead to biomagnification. Biomagnification is a condition in which compounds (pollutant) accumulate in the tissue of an organism as it travels through the food chain.

Agriculture and Sewage discharge

When nutrients are discharged into oceans in excessive amounts as sewage, fertilizers, or nitrogen oxides from burning fossil fuels, this can lead to eutrophication. Eutrophication is the excessive growth of marine plants such as algae which causes an algal bloom. This limits the sunlight that will penetrate into the water and reduces the availability of oxygen. When oxygen levels plummet it affects marine creatures, coral reefs and other vital habitats. Sewage tends to be the main source of nutrients in cities and agriculture dominates in rural areas.

Coastal development

Coastal development is change caused by human activities on an area of land adjacent to the coastline. It leads to the destruction of natural land and the fragmentation of coastal habitats. This development includes building structures that are on or near the coast either for protection, business, residential, communication or recreation. Impacts resulting from development are dredging and coral/sand mining for construction material or increased runoff of sediment and pollutants. Currently, 2.4 billion people live within 100km of the coast, putting undue pressure on coastal ecosystems.

Ocean noise

Ocean noise is sound generated by human activity that can obscure marine animals from detecting natural sounds in the ocean. Sources of ocean noise are ships, military sonar and seismic exploration for oil and gas. This is harmful to marine animals such as whales and dolphins because it can interfere with their communication channels. The noise can also prevent other animals from meeting a mate, detecting predators, and finding food.

Deep-sea mining

Deep-sea mining is a potential threat to marine animals. It is the process of retrieving mineral deposits from the deep sea. The depletion of terrestrial deposits of minerals is stimulating interest in deep sea mining. However, they are still in the exploration stage of deep sea mining to assess the size of mineral deposits.

Solutions

The establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)–to protect and conserve ecologically and biologically significant marine areas by regulating human activities.

On the same note Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) should be established. These are marine conservation areas managed by the local coastal community. In fact when MPAs and LMMAs are merged, it can increase the conservation effort and enhance interconnectivity between the two which will result in a widespread and better managed conservation area.

Banning of destructive fishing methods such as trawling.

Regulations on overfishing and animals caught as by-catch should be followed and hefty penalties put in place to any organizations that do not adhere to them.

Use eco-friendly and reusable products and avoid single use plastic such as plastic straws, bottles and bags.

Support local marine conservation organizations i.e Local Ocean Trust – Watamu

Conclusion

Clearly, the state of our oceans is critical and a lot needs to be done to conserve them.

Food

The Truth About Food Waste

August 10, 2021 Cindy Wanjiku 22 Comments

Presently, we have become such a wasteful generation. When it comes to water, fashion and even food. The worst part about wasting food is that more than 820 million people have no access to sufficient food. Let us take a look at the extent of food waste in the world.

Food waste is the amount of food that is discarded or thrown out at consumer or retail level. Basically, when people throw out food they don’t want to eat or leave it to spoil.

On the other hand, food loss is the amount of food lost during the harvesting and pre-processing stages. In Africa, food is lost due to lack of proper infrastructure in the harvesting, processing, and storage stages, due to financial, managerial, or technical constraints.

About one third of food produced globally is lost or wasted every year. This equates to roughly 1.4B tones of food. In high income countries the estimated worth of their food waste is USD 680B and 310B in developing countries. In medium and high-income countries, food is wasted in later stages in contrast to developing countries where there is reduced wastage due to low purchasing power and supply.

In developed countries, more than 40% of food waste occurs at retail and consumer levels and is heavily determined by consumer behaviour. Great quantities are lost due to the cosmetic appearance of food. Contrastingly, 40% of food losses in developing countries occur at post-harvest and processing levels as mentioned above. The most wasted food type in the world is fruits and vegetables. According to the UN, about half of all fruits and vegetables produced are wasted.

Effects of food waste

Food loss and waste result in the misuse of resources. These include water, seeds, feeds, land, energy, and labour. It is estimated that half the water used to produce this food is wasted. It also leads to the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change. According to FAO, 8% of greenhouse gas emissions is from food waste. Discarded food is taken to landfills where it rots and produces methane gas that is a major greenhouse gas.

What countries can do

Ironically, 690 million people around the world are undernourished while so much of the global food supply is lost. It is projected that food waste will continue to rise in coming years if nothing is done about it. The limited transparency about the extent of food loss and waste in the food chain coupled with the lack of awareness among food providers and consumers is further exacerbating the issue. Coordination between producers and processors would greatly reduce food loss and waste.

Finding a beneficial use for food that is thrown away is a useful measure to decrease the amount of loss and waste – recycling food. In addition, manufacturing industries could repurpose and recycle unmarketable crops, by products or waste into other products such as biofuels or animal feeds.

Cold chain is a great technology that can reduce food waste. It involves a series of refrigerated production, transport and distribution activities. This could work to prolong and extend the shelf life of food. However, it is not easily available in emerging economies.

Farmers should be trained on how to protect crops from pests, diseases and weeds. This could reduce loss during harvest.

Retailers should sell imperfect fruits and vegetables at discounted prices.

What you can do

Buy what you need: avoid impulse buying or steering off your grocery list
Use old products before opening new ones.
Buy imperfect fruits – oddly shaped or bruised produce are often thrown away because they do not meet cosmetic standards. Old fruits and vegetables can be used in desserts, smoothies and juices.
Store food well: put older products at the front of the fridge or store and newer ones at the back to prevent food spoilage. Garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions should never be placed in the fridge but at room temperature. Foods that produce ethylene gas should be separated from the others that do not. Ethylene gas promotes ripening in foods. Examples of foods that produce it are tomatoes, bananas, avocados, pears, and green onions.
Understand food labeling. Understanding the difference between ‘best before’, ‘use by’ and ‘sell by’ can help prevent a lot of food waste. In some cases food may still be safe to eat past the ‘best before’ date but the ‘use by’ date indicates that it is not safe to eat. ‘Sell by’ is supposed to inform retailers when the product should be sold or removed from shelves.
Avoid throwing away food. Take leftovers and turn it into compost. This will create nutrient rich manure for your garden and prevent organic waste from ending up in landfills.
Support local farmers, markets, and small businesses in your community. This can help fight pollution from long distance deliveries.
Eat the skin of fruits, vegetables and chicken. There are a lot of nutrients in the outer layer of potatoes, chicken skin, carrots, mangoes, and cucumber therefore avoid binning them.
Practice portion control when preparing dishes and serving. Only serve the amount of food that you can finish to avoid wasted food on the plate.
Donate food to local charities and people in need.

For many, food waste has become a major problem by buying more than we need and letting food go to waste. The importance of reducing food loss and waste is that it can increase incomes and improve access to food for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in high-risk regions. By eliminating the food loss and waste problem, we can also curb its growing carbon footprint.