Cape Verde’s parliament on Tuesday July 30 approved the creation of the Climate and Environmental Fund (FCA), which will be funded by €12 million converted from the debt owed to Portugal.
The law was approved in general at the last session in July, with 36 votes in favor, 33 from the ruling Movement for Democracy (MpD) and three from the Independent and Democratic Cape Verdean Union (UCID, opposition).
The 25 MPs from the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV, opposition) present in the chamber abstained and there were no votes against.
The bill, which will now be discussed in the special session, returned to the Cape Verdean parliament on Monday, after having been postponed during the first session in July.
During the debate, the PAICV parliamentary caucus considered it a good measure, but had doubts about whether it would increase the country’s public debt, especially with international financial institutions.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Olavo Correia guaranteed that the fund would be an “innovative financial operation” with “zero impact” on the archipelago’s public debt.
“We will be able to invest in the climate and the environment without increasing public debt by exchanging debt for investment,” he explained.
The FCA will be created from 12 million euros converted from Portugal’s debt, with the aim of “mobilizing and accelerating investments with a relevant climate and environmental impact”, through the amount of greenhouse gases that will no longer be emitted, reads the bill.
In other words, the money from the new fund can finance renewable energy, energy efficiency, agriculture, fisheries and transport projects, among others.