Record debt costs mean climate spending could push nations to brink of insolvency

Emerging countries will pay a record $400 billion to service external debt this year, and nearly four dozen cannot spend the money they need for climate adaptation and sustainable development without risking default in the next five years, according to a report led by Boston University released on the eve of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings. The report from the Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery Project (DRGR) found that 47 developing countries would hit external debt insolvency thresholds, as defined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in the next five years if they invested the necessary amounts to hit 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement goals.