The International Development and Finance Act of 1989

Debt-for-Nature swaps were always going to make it into US legislation. And that happened immediately before Christmas; on December 19, 1989.

Of course, back then you might not have been aware - because in addition to, well, Christmas being just a few days away, on only the following day, the United Stated invaded Panama¹.

Of course, Christmas and Panama weren’t the only events distracting Americans. Because December, 1989, in the United States further yielded a cold wave², breaking many all-time record low temperatures on the US South-East, triggering the largest snowstorm in history.

In other words, it was a perfect time to push through legislation dragging in global warming.