White & Case advised the Republic of El Salvador on the world's largest debt-for-nature conversion for river conservation and the world's largest debt-for-nature conversion in terms of the size of funding commitments for conservation.

The law firm also last year worked on a landmark pro bono $35 million debt-for-nature swap with the US and Indonesia to protect coral reef ecosystems.

Environmental Finance Sustainable debt awards judges praised White & Case for its "broad and deep sustainable finance experience" and its "expertise with complex debt-for-nature-swaps".

Another judge called the El Salvador deal "an impressive transaction", which enabled El Salvador to refinance more than $1 billion of outstanding notes and save an expected $352 million.

$350 million will be applied to the Rio Lempa Conservation and Restoration Program over the next 20 years, supporting watershed conservation in the Rio Lempa basin.