Martín Guzmán asked for a “debt for nature” swap

The Minister of the Economy, Martín Guzmán, asked this Sunday financial facilities modify the energy matrix and the use of funds reallocated by the IMF to help poor countries finance “productive transformation”. It was during the International Conference on Climate Change in Venice, where the summit of G20 finance ministers is being held.

In this context, he stressed the importance of accessing “better financing conditions in our case for energy transformation, to explore the sustainable energy available to Argentina”.

And he assured that “There is a debt what have the countries that have done the biggest contribution to climate change with the other countries, it is therefore necessary to manage certain files to improve the financing conditions, but also to discuss the “debt-for-nature” swaps this would undoubtedly help to move this process forward ”.

The debt-for-nature swap is an initiative promoted by financial experts and environmentalists that involves swap the external debt of a poor country for financing in local currency for nature conservation and environmental protection in this country.

During his speech, the chef of the Palacio de Hacienda described climate change as “one of the defining aspects of our time, probably one of the two big problems facing humanity today, along with inequalities” .

In this sense, Guzmán explained that inequalities and climate change are aspects which “they are connected and they are a consequence of the way we organize our world systems ”.

The Minister pointed out that there is deep asymmetries globally and argued that carbon prices should be complemented by regulatory measures as there is “the possibility that advanced economies will go faster than developing economies, and this is something that would be positive for the transition. , but we will also have to keep in mind that there will be a lot of learning curve when it comes to producing in a greener way ”.

“If developing countries go slower, they will also learn more slowly, so this is a transition that we will have to go through anyway,” he added, while specifying that ” we must have the elements to lead a productive transformation which is needed in developing countries ”.

Regarding green investments, the official said that “also we are faced with asymmetry problems“Because” the financing conditions of developing and advanced economies are very different, both in terms of public and private financing. “

“Productive transformation for environmental sustainability is not only a question of development but also of balance of payments stability“He added.

In the same vein, he estimated that “if we move forward with carbon prices and the developing economies do not adapt their production structures, they will be faced with balance of payments problems”. It is up to the International Monetary Fund to examine. (IMF), ”he said.

The Minister of the Economy also referred to the new allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs) from the IMF and the creation of a fund to help the poorest countries. “The idea of ​​creating a Resilience and Sustainability Fund with the allocation of SDRs that are issued to constitute a new line of credit at the best conditions is very positive, because this rule aims to a certain extent to correct financial asymmetries” , did he declare. mentionned.

In this context, he declared that this fund can be used “to finance the measures necessary for productive transformation”. “In the most advanced economies, countries have more capacity to tackle climate action, but it is possible to write the rules of the global economy to improve both. It is very important that we work on this, ”he added.

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