Conservation of nature as a global public good: Analysis of debt-for- nature swaps

The objective of this study is to examine the impacts of the Anthropocene epoch on the natural environment and to evaluate these impacts within the context of the preservation of global public goods. The environmental challenges brought about by the Anthropocene era have led to the entrenchment of threats faced by nature, which possesses a commons characteristic, necessitating the derivation of new financial solutions. Debt-for-nature swaps represent one such solution. Within the relevant framework, the practical section of the thesis investigates the orientation of debt-for-nature swap agreements between 1990 and 2020 through the use of Ordinary Least Squares and Logistic Regression methods. Additionally, the impacts of various country groups on debt-for-nature swaps have been analysed, and in this context, the evolution of swap agreements has been scrutinized. Findings indicate that debt-for-nature swaps are a potential tool for sustainable environmental management, yet their effective implementation requires consideration of various factors. It has also been observed that countries with different economic structures respond distinctively to swap agreements.