ActionAid Rwanda campaigns for debt justice, climate obligations

The climate pledges under the Paris Agreement will outline updated climate action plans and targets.

This process involves nationwide consultations with various stakeholders and aims to integrate climate priorities into national development plans, enhancing resilience and aligning with Rwanda’s long-term goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

In light of this, a high-level breakfast dialogue under the theme “Rwanda’s Debt and Climate Nexus: Unlocking a Just Financial Future through NDC Commitments” was hosted by ActionAid Rwanda on June 27.

It presented Rwanda’s NDC as a platform to integrate debt sustainability and climate finance solutions and shared insights from ActionAid’s global campaign on debt justice and climate obligations.

It brought together a diverse and powerful group from ministries, financial institutions, multilateral agencies, civil society, and academia, and explored how Rwanda can shape and champion reform at the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) and the AU Reparations Agenda.

It also identified policy options such as progressive taxation, feminist budgeting, and climate-linked financing tools to expand Rwanda’s fiscal space.

Rwanda is at a pivotal moment in aligning its climate ambition with sustainable public finance. With external debt reaching $9.69 billion (about 60.2% of GDP), the burden of debt servicing is increasingly constraining investments in social sectors and climate resilience.

Ibrahim Ndagijimana, a board member of ActionAid Rwanda, said that there is a need for reimagining how climate action, development, and justice are financed in a world where the rules of global finance continue to disadvantage various countries.

“Rwanda, like many countries in the Global South, is facing a triple crisis: climate risk, rising debt, and shrinking fiscal space. We are being asked to do more, to act faster on climate, deliver better public services, and transform our economies with fewer resources, and under the pressure of debt systems we did not design,” he said.

“Our Nationally Determined Contribution [NDC] reflects strong national ambition towards a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. But climate ambition without adequate, just, and predictable financing is not sustainable. Our ability to fulfil the NDC and the aspirations of our people depends on how well we address the climate-finance-debt triangle,” he added.

The dialogue discussed how Rwanda can leverage its climate commitments to unlock just and innovative financing solutions and act differently to leverage debt-for-nature swaps and advance climate justice.

A debt-for-nature swap is a financial transaction where a portion of a developing country’s external debt is forgiven in exchange for local investments in environmental conservation projects.

In light of global debates on climate justice and debt sustainability, Rwanda is exploring how its NDC can serve as a tool to unlock innovative financing including debt-fornature swaps, climate-aligned debt restructuring, and just transition partnerships.

“Through our global Fund, our Future campaign, ActionAid and our allies are calling for an end to harmful financing models such as fossil fuel subsidies and exploitative debt servicing, and instead, advocating for investment in public services, climate action, and systems that centre justice, equity, and community development,” Ndagijimana said.

Thadee Twagirimana, the Director General of Environment and Climate Change at Rwanda’s Ministry of Environment, emphasized the importance of pursuing climate action that is just, inclusive, and fiscally responsible.

“Our NDC is not just an emissions reduction plan; it is a people-centred development pathway that prioritises adaptation and resilience in agriculture, water, forests, and settlements, gender-responsive approaches that empower women and youth, and alignment with our national development goals under Vision 2050 and the NST2.

“We believe climate justice means ensuring that vulnerable populations are not asked to pay the price for a crisis they did not create. It also means that climate finance should not come at the cost of more debt,” he said.

Loretta Uwase, Programs, Policy and Business Development Lead at ActionAid Rwanda stressed the need of converting some of the debt into grants to alleviate the debt repayment burden and allow funds to be redirected into environmentally friendly initiatives.

“Africa bears the heaviest climate burden as 70% of climate finance to Africa is loans.
African nations pay $62 billion per year in debt service. Rwanda is also constrained by rising debt. High-emitting nations owe reparations. If such debts were to be cancelled, the funds saved could then be invested in other initiatives that improve people’s lives, such as healthcare, education, women’s empowerment, poverty reduction, climate resilience and more,” she said.

In response, Rwanda is charting a new path as it is developing a Sustainability-Linked Bond framework to raise financing aligned with climate and SDG targets.

“Through Ireme Invest, we are de-risking private sector participation in climate-smart sectors and we are actively exploring debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps to redirect debt service towards green investments. But we cannot do this alone. These efforts require partnerships that are grounded in fairness, solidarity, and mutual accountability,” he said.

He said that as Rwanda looks ahead to the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) and Africa’s emerging Reparations Agenda, Rwanda will continue to advocate for reforms that expand access to concessional and grant-based climate finance, recognise historical responsibility and climate debt owed to the Global South, and enable countries like ours to invest in resilience without compromising fiscal sustainability.

“We urge our partners, financial institutions, civil society, and the private sector to stand with us. Let us co-create solutions that make climate finance not only more available, but more equitable,” he said.

Uwase, Programs, Policy and Business Development Lead noted that converting some of the debt into grants for climate projects could reduce the burden of debt repayment and allow funds to be redirected into community environment friendly projects.

Uwase closed with a powerful truth from the Fund Our Future manifesto: ‘We are not asking for help; we are demanding justice.’

This is not just about financing, it’s about decolonizing the systems that created and perpetuate the climate crisis. It is about dignity, sovereignty, and giving communities the power and resources to shape their futures.

Rwanda can be the spark that ignites this transformation. Let this dialogue be the beginning of a new era, one where global finance serves people and planet, not profit. This is a moment for collective responsibility and bold action.