Maputo, Oct. 15, 2025 (Lusa) - The Mozambican government wants to replicate the recent conversion of a €2.4 million debt with Belgium into investments to achieve climate resilience, highlighting Cabo Verde's example in this area.
At the opening of the first national conference on climate finance in Maputo, the Minister of Planning and Development, Salim Valá, said that the country is making progress in mechanisms for climate resilience, with the carbon market already positioning Mozambique as a regional leader, as it prepares to launch a National Carbon Market Activation Plan.
"Similarly, the recent debt swap with Belgium, which converted €2.4 million into climate investment, is a tangible example of how economic diplomacy can generate positive environmental and social impacts," said Minister Valá.
According to the minister, Cabo Verde is also an "inspiring example" of creativity and economic diplomacy, after negotiating sovereign debt swaps for climate action, converting financial obligations into investment for energy transition and the blue economy, including with Portugal.
Valá pointed out that, in Cabo Verde, part of the resources is reinvested in national resilience funds, in a model that combines financial sustainability and development autonomy.
"These two cases prove that climate finance is not only possible - it is advantageous. It creates jobs, strengthens economic sovereignty and demonstrates that when countries align public policies with environmental responsibility, they gain access to new sources of capital and renewed confidence from international partners," said Salim Valá.
The minister also said that, with this strategy, in partnership with civil society and the private sector, the country can increase the mobilisation of resources to address climate change, build resilience and reduce the scale of losses and damage, thereby laying the foundations for a sustainable future.
Mozambique recorded more than 75 extreme weather events between 2000 and 2023, causing economic losses of more than €3.8 billion, placing the country among the 10 most vulnerable in the world, the government said today.
On Tuesday, the Mozambican government approved the contingency plan for the 2025/2026 rainy season, which it believes could affect 1.2 million people, but has less than half of the 14 billion meticais (€190 million) needed.
On 13 October, Mozambican president Daniel Chapo advocated investing in the resilience of African communities, rather than focusing solely on actions to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, in order to avoid human losses.
In September, Mozambican authorities warned of "large-scale" flooding in the country and flooding of at least four million hectares of agricultural land during the upcoming rainy season, which began in October in Mozambique.
The country is considered one of the countries most vulnerable and severely affected by climate change, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs annually from October to April.
Between December and March alone, during the last cyclone season, Mozambique was hit by three cyclones, including Chido, the first and most severe, at the end of 2024.
The number of cyclones hitting the country "has been increasing over the last decade," as has the intensity of the winds, according to the report on the State of the Climate in Mozambique 2024, published in March by the Mozambique Meteorological Institute.
Extreme weather events caused at least 1,016 deaths in Mozambique between 2019 and 2023, affecting around 4.9 million people, according to previous data from the National Statistics Institute.
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