In view of the global evaluation of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) that will be carried out by the Commission in 2021, the author highlights the key points which will need to be assessed from the perspective of the impacts on African coastal communities. The author also suggests essential improvements to be made for the future of SFPAs so that they better respond to the needs of these communities.
Presented as a means of protecting sensitive information, the use of confidentiality agreements in debt-swap transactions effectively deprives civil society in the countries concerned of its free, prior and informed consent by obstructing debate and participation on the terms of the deal, including the public policies the governments commit to in exchange for the debt-swap.
This second article of our series on financialisation and the blue economy covers TNC’s recent debt-for-ocean swap in Belize, news about TNC’s “audacious plan” of other debt swaps in other countries, the history of debt swaps and how the recent swaps reflect the financialisaton of conservation and finally, why these debt swaps are worrying for small-scale fisheries.
