the ecuadorian government should exploit yasuni itt
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Developing countries should exploit their natural resources in order to achieve development, the case of Yasuni ITTTRANSCRIPT
The Ecuadorian Case of Yasuní ITT
Developing countries should exploit their natural resources in
order to reach development
Johan Singana
Background
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“At the beginning of the 20th century, Ecuador
began extracting oil, first on the coast and then
in the Amazon region”.
Ecuador started to export oil in the 1970s.
In the 1980s, Ecuador become to be dependent
on a primary-export economy (oil).
Background
Ejolt Report 2013
Yasuní National Park
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The park is located in the intersection of the Andes,
the Equator and the Amazon rainforest.
It has an area of about 982,000 hectares. (Le 2013)
It is considered one of the most biodiverse place on
the Earth.
It contains more endemic tree species in one hectare
(2.5 acres) than there are in all of the U.S. and
Canada combined. (Zuckerman, 2013).
Yasuní National Park
ITT Block contains three oil fields: Ishpingo,
Tambococha, and Tiputini (Wallace 2013)
Yasuní ITT is 12% of the one million hectare
Yasuní National Park.
It contains as many species of reptiles (121) as
there are in all of Europe.
The park is territory of the Waorani indigenous
people, and two nomadic Waorani clans – the
Tagaeri and Taromenane – who live in voluntary
isolation.
Yasuní ITT
Yasuní ITT
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Yasuní ITT InitiativeIn 2007, the Ecuadorian government announced
that it was willing to forego extracting the oil
within the ITT block of Yasuní National Park.
The condition was that the government received
half of the expected monetary value of that oil in
the form of payments from the international
community. (Le 2013)
To preserve biodiversity unique to the planet.
To protect the land and the lives of the indigenous
peoples who live in voluntary isolation.
To protect the climate in the interest of all of humanity.
To take a first step forward a post-fossil-fuel era in
Ecuador.
Key goals of Yasuní ITT Initiative
According to Acosta 2013 the following are the main goals of Yasuní ITT Initiative.
As reported by Le (2013) on 15th August 2013,
Correa ended the initiative.
The fund received by the government at that time
contained just $13 million. (Le 2013)
Correa (2013, cited in Hill, 2013) said: “The
world failed us”.
Fail of Yasuní ITT Initiative
Why government should exploit Yasuní ITT?
Foil 2013
It has been argued that there are other
alternatives to collect the amount of money that
the government needs. (Siempre 2014)
One alternative is to eliminate the subsidy to the
gasoline.
Studies show that Ecuador “currently spends
$3.8 billion subsidizing fuel (gasoline, diesel,
cooking gas) in one year”. (El Telgreafo 2013)
Economy
Ecuador is totally dependent on its oil resources
which account for over 50% of its exports.
(Lebrun 2013)
The oil fields within Yasuní are estimated about
920 million barrels of crude oil - approximately
20% of Ecuador's total oil reserves. (Woodrow
2013)
The oil sector accounts for a sizeable portion of
all export earnings and represents one-third of
all tax revenues. (U.S. Energy Information
Administration EIA 2013)
Economy
Economy
Observatory of Economic Complexity MIT
It has been argued by Woodrow(2013) that “up to 80
percent of declared proven fossil fuel reserves will
have to stay in the ground if we are to avoid a rise in
a global average temperature of more than 2°C”.
According to Le (2013) “Liquid and solid wastes and
toxic production water contaminate ecosystems. The
drilling itself and the infrastructure that
accompanies it causes widespread deforestation”
Environment
It has been claimed by Martinez, Bassey and
Bond that Yasuní ITT Initiative (2013) will avoid
carbon emissions of about 410 million tons of
CO2.
According to some supporters of Yasuní ITT , they
are providing “a way to overcome the long-
standing but accelerating trend in Latin America
in which the environment is destroyed in the
name of economic development"
Environment
Environment
Correa (2013 cited in Hill, 2013) states “the oil
exploitation will affect less than 1% of the Yasuní
National Park.
The Ecuadorian Ministry of Non-Renewable Natural
Resources (2013) plans to drill 32 wells in 16.8
hectares and thus only '0.0017%' of the park will be
directly impacted.
The exploitation of all three fields will directly
impact about 200 hectares. It is about 0.02% of the
park (Hill 2013)
Environment
It is maintained by Le (2013) that “[d]rilling would
have significant psychological and social impacts
upon the indigenous people living in the area, and
likely render their traditional way of life impossible."
Delfin Payaguaje, one of the Secoya people, explains
the impacts of oil pollution on his community - his son
died of stomach cancer and five people in his small
community have died of cancers and brain tumours"
Society
Society
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The Yasuní ITT Initiative can produce instability in
the economy of other countries
Twist (2013) claims that “there is a fear that to
fund Yasuní ITT would open the door to hundreds
of similar proposals”
Ecuador is the smallest oil producing member of
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC).
The Ogoni and the Ijaw in Nigeria, the Mosetens
and Tsimane in Bolivia, to the inhabitants of
Madagascar, Ghana, South Africa, Europe, and
Quebec.
Society
Society
Cedatos 2013
The fund of exploitation of Yasuní ITT can be used
in other new environmental techniques such as
hydroelectric, thermic, etc.
The fund helps to decrease the level of poverty in
Ecuador.
The fund helps to improve the quality of education
in Ecuador.
Society
Poverty
Education
Senescyt 2013
Education
Senescyt 2013
Supply of Energy
Economy, Ecuador can get the money that it
needs without affecting the quality of life of many
people.
Environment, a very small part of the park will be
damaged.
Society, Ecuadorians can have better
opportunities in Educaction and poverty can keep
decreasing.
Conclusion
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BBC 2013, Ecuador approves Yasuni park oil drilling in Amazon rainforest, viewed 10 March 2014, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23722204.
Coffey, G 2013, Ecuador: Some Observations Regarding the Yasuní-ITT, Upside Down World, viewed 10 March 2014, http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/4472-ecuador-some-observations-regarding-the-yasuni-itt-proposal.
Hill, D 2013, Why Ecuador's president is misleading the world on Yasuni-ITT, The Guardian, viewed 10 March 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2013/oct/15/ecuador-president-misleading-yasuni.
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Smithsonian Institution 2002, Where Is The World's Greatest Biodiversity? Smithsonian Scientists Find The Answer Is A Question Of Scale, viewed 10 March 2014, http://www.rainforests.net/betadiversity.htm.
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Twist, B 2013, A Deeper Perspective on the End of the Yasuní-ITT Initiative, News-Pachamama Alliance, viewed 10 March 2014, https://www.pachamama.org/news/a-deeper-perspective-on-the-end-of-the-yasuni-itt-initiative.
U. S. Energy Information Administration 2014, Ecuador Overview, viewed 25 March 2014, http://www.eia.gov/countries/analysisbriefs/Ecuador/Ecuador.pdf.
Wallace, S 2013, Rain Forest for Sale Demand for oil is squeezing the life out of one of the world’s wildest places, National Geography Magazine, viewed 10 March 2014, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/125-yasuni-national-park/wallace-text.
Woodrow, A 2013, Yasuní-ITT Initiative to be Scrapped, viewed 10 March 2014, http://www.gaiafoundation.org/blog/yasun%C3%AD-itt-initiative-to-be-scrapped.
Zuckerman, A 2013, Rights and Responsibility: The Failure of Yasuní-ITT and What it Means for Ecuador’s Indigenous Peoples, Amazon Watch, viewed 10 March 2014, http://amazonwatch.org/news/2013/0825-rights-and-responsibility-the-failure-of-yasuni.