African leaders want debt relief for climate action

Cape VerdeGDPCOPUNGDPUNUNUNECA, a volcanic archipelago off the west coast of Africa, is not in fact a cape, and only in the rainy season is it particularly green. It is vulnerable to rising sea levels, acidifying oceans and erratic weather, and this may explain why it struck a debt-for-climate deal with Portugal this year. Initially Portugal will write off €12m ($13m) of debt. The money saved will be invested in projects like renewable energy and desalination plants. If all goes well, then the entire €140m (some 6% of ) that Cape Verde owes its former coloniser will be forgiven on similar terms.The search for new finance is top of the agenda for African delegates gathering in the United Arab Emirates for 28, the ’s annual climate jamboree, which started on November 30th. Sub-Saharan Africa needs to spend 2.4% of its a year adapting to a warming world, the reckons. But many countries are already weighed down by debt and austerity. “Do you pay the debt, and you have nothing left to invest in climate?” asks Claver Gatete, a former Rwandan finance minister who now heads the Economic Commission for Africa ().