	View Online

WRI DIGEST

In the Time of COVID-19, China Could Be Pivotal in Swapping Debt for Climate and Health Action

A major debt crisis is brewing in the developing world, as highly indebted countries are hit by COVID-19. Michael Westphal and Shuang Liu propose a new twist on the familiar debt-for-nature swaps: creditor countries should forgive debt in exchange for clear, verifiable climate action and investments in healthcare, what the authors call “climate-health-debt” swap. This time around, China would have a potential role, as the world’s leading creditor to developing countries. Read More.

As a major bilateral creditor, China can play a pivotal role climate-health-debt swaps with developing countries. Photo by Zhang Kaiyv/Unsplash

PODCAST: Solving Water-related Conflicts

Across the developing world, water crises are leading to instability, fragility, even war. It doesn’t have to be that way. A new WRI report, Ending Conflicts Over Water, offers solutions for water resource managers and experts in global development, diplomacy, defense and disaster response. In a new WRI Podcast, Nicholas Walton interviews the authors and other experts on reducing water-related conflict in places like Lebanon and Central America. Multi-disciplinary data is key, says Kitty van der Heijden, head of international cooperation at Netherlands Foreign Ministry. “You get a much richer picture of what’s happening…the blinking red light on the dashboard to start to act,” she says. Read more.

YMCA Mountain fire, Colorado, July 2020. Photo by Scrubhiker (USCDyer)/Flickr

Importing a Good Idea to the U.S.: Parametric Insurance and Climate-Related Risks

Most disaster insurance pays out based on damages. Parametric insurance pays out based on the size of the event, such as sustained high windspeeds or the height of a storm surge. Pioneered in developing countries, parametric insurance has been slow to catch on in the United States. WRI Finance Center Director Leonardo Martinez-Diaz and co-authors Lauren Sidner and Rohini Sengupta explain how this fresh approach to insurance can help U.S. states and localities cope with more frequent and severe extreme weather events driven by climate change.
Read More.

RELEASE: Gift from Bezos Earth Fund Will Support Two Major Climate Initiatives at WRI

WRI will receive one of the first grants from the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund. WRI will receive $100 million over 5 years for two major initiatives. The first is a satellite-powered land-use and carbon-emissions monitoring system to measure the impact of conservation and restoration of forests, grasslands, wetlands and agricultural lands on reducing emissions. The second will catalyze the electrification of U.S. school buses, with a goal of converting more than 450,000 busses by 2030. “These initiatives will cut emissions, create a healthier environment, spur economic opportunities, and improve the lives of millions of people in the United States and around the world,” said WRI President and CEO Andrew Steer. Read more.