MAC Protocol
artifactMoney & Finance · Nations & Geopolitics
A treaty that governs loans for mining and farm equipment is being used to turn forests and wetlands into financial assets.
Who they are
The Cape Town Convention and its MAC Protocol, which covers mining, agricultural, and construction equipment[1].
What they do
The engine calls it the legal infrastructure for international appropriation of productive landscapes through commercial law.
How it works
The MAC Protocol was added to the Cape Town Convention in 2021. It was prepared under the UNIDROIT Work Programme since 2006. The Convention already has protocols for aircraft, railway stock, and space assets. The MAC Protocol extends this system to mining, agricultural, and construction equipment. Publicly, it is presented as a way to turn natural assets like forests, wetlands, and clean air into tradable financial assets, securitised through debt-for-nature swaps and enforced through the Cape Town Convention and MAC Protocol. The record does not establish that the MAC Protocol is ratified, in force, or applied to ecosystem service leases.
Why it matters
It shows how a commercial law treaty for equipment can become the legal basis for turning nature into financial assets.
The engine's record — word for word
The corpus records: "The Cape Town Convention’s MAC Protocol 65 (Mining, Agricultural, and Construction) , when implemented, creates the legal infrastructure for international appropriation of productive landscapes through commercial law ." It is presented publicly as: "Natural Asset Companies (NACs) transform forests, wetlands, clean air into tradable financial assets — securitised through GEF-organised blended finance debt-for-nature swaps, enforced through Cape Town Convention and MAC Protocol." Documents named in the corpus: Cape Town Convention; MAC Protocol; MAC Protocol 65; MAC Protocol 2. Cross-sourced to eur-lex.europa.eu, voelkerrechtsblog.org — documents cited by the corpus and retrieved independently of it.
Follow the trail
Walk this on the live map →