Natural disaster debt pause offered by Canada
Canada has promised to offer climate debt resilient clauses (CDRCs) in all sovereign lending. The clauses would allow for pauses on repayment due to natural disasters, but only for new loans.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has advocated for such climate clauses and called for philanthropy and multinational companies to help finance climate adaptation and other initiatives among developing countries. The article also mentions that several countries, including Barbados, are under a tropical storm watch due to the development of Tropical Storm Tammy.
What is Canada offering in terms of climate debt resilient clauses?
Canada is offering climate debt resilient clauses (CDRCs) in all sovereign lending, which would allow for pauses on repayment due to natural disasters for new loans. This is similar to the debt clauses offered by the World Bank in June. However, it is important to note that the pause on repayment would only apply to the principal of the loan, not to the interest.
What is the focus of the discussions on Wednesday?
On Wednesday the meeting was focused on climate change and debt relief for developing countries, particularly those in the Caribbean.
The Bridgetown Initiative, a set of recommendations on debt relief, low-interest lending, and climate change promoted by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, was also discussed. Additionally, the article notes that Barbados and several other countries were under a tropical storm watch following the development of Tropical Storm Tammy, which may have been a topic of discussion as well.
