Yasuní-ITT initiative

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The Yasuni-ITT initiative was a political initiative of the state of Ecuador with the aim of promoting emission reduction through the non-exploitation of fossil fuels, the protection of biodiversity and social development in the Yasuni National Park .

In 2007, the Ecuadorian government proposed that the oil deposits of the ITT field (named after the three oil wells Ishpingo , Tambococha and Tiputini discovered in test drilling ) in the Yasuní National Park be kept underground forever in order to preserve the unique biodiversity and which were not contacted to respect indigenous peoples who live in this area. In return, the government demanded an international solidarity compensation amount that should cover at least 50% of the lost sales. In August 2010, Ecuador signed a corresponding agreement with the United Nations . For Ecuador's foregoing export revenues, industrialized nations should make compensation payments that accounted for around half of the revenues that Ecuador could generate from the sale of the estimated 850 million barrels of oil. The money should go to a UN trust fund. In 2013 the initiative failed because the expected financial resources were not received.

background

With the oil production in the Amazon region of Ecuador in 1967 was started while hardly taken into account the nature or the indigenous peoples of the region. The Yasuní-ITT initiative is a radical turning point that gives priority to the use of alternative renewable energy sources , the sustainable management of natural resources and the protection of the human rights of uncontacted peoples. This effort needs international support and solidarity for new options for sustainable and participatory development.

The new constitution, which bans the extraction of non-renewable natural resources such as oil in protected areas, was passed around September 2008. The entire production from the time before was not subject to this restriction. The implementation and development of the guideline has been open again since the failure of the ITT initiative and the change of government in 2017.

content

  • Avoidance of 407 million tons of CO 2 emissions into the earth's atmosphere . Thus a new modality for avoiding greenhouse gas emissions should emerge. In addition, oil and gas deposits in socially and ecologically highly sensitive areas in developing countries would be left in the ground.
  • Preservation of the extraordinary wealth of biological species in the Yasuní National Park, recognized by UNESCO as unique in the world, as well as in the remaining 39 protected areas and in the indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian territories of Ecuador; these comprise one of the largest reservoirs of biological diversity in the world.
  • Respect for the indigenous cultures of the uncontacted peoples of the Yasuní National Park.
  • Social development in the areas of influence of the project with health and education programs and sustainable jobs.
  • Support for the transition of Ecuador from an extractive economy based on oil production to a sustainable development model with broad use of renewable energy sources, respect for biodiversity and social equality. Over the next 30 years, 1 billion tons of CO 2 emissions will be avoided and reduced through the preservation of ecosystems, reforestation and the development of clean energy sources.

Ecuador tried to change the existing policy and in the new constitution ( Art. 407 ) of the Correa administration from 2008, support measures in protected areas are forbidden except in exceptional cases. The Yasuní-ITT initiative was intended to provide a solid financial and institutional basis for effective and permanent protection of these areas. In addition, not compensation, but a solidarity contribution for common international goals in the context of combating climate change, preserving biodiversity and sustainable human development was called for.

meaning

The initiative was unique in that it united three fundamental goals: reducing emissions through the non-exploitation of fossil fuels, protecting biodiversity and social development. The proposals of the other countries mentioned above concentrate to this day on the protection of tropical forests through the REDD mechanism ( Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation ), with which they provide financial compensation for the reduction of deforestation while at the same time protecting biodiversity and avoiding emissions strive for. Some proposals also include first afforestation, reforestation, agro-forestry measures and the protection of indigenous peoples. The Ecuadorian proposal was the only one that covered and united the four dimensions mentioned (non-exploitation of fossil fuels, development of alternative energies, protection of biodiversity and indigenous peoples, as well as equal development).

The proposals made by the countries mentioned always use existing mechanisms such as CDM ( Clean Development Mechanism ) or REDD or voluntary emissions trading. The ITT initiative was looking for new protective measures that go beyond the Kyoto Protocol .

Action

Citizens are also involved in drawing up the initiative and in deciding which projects are to be financed. The initiative itself had several stages:

The first aimed to gain international acceptance for this innovative proposal.

The second was to ensure political support for Ecuadorian society. The following was intended for this:

  • Nationwide dissemination of the initiative in various social sectors (indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian communities, academics, production, local authorities) in order to achieve their support and active participation
  • Developing mechanisms so that Ecuadorian citizens can contribute financially to the initiative.
  • Consultations with indigenous Amazonian peoples to ensure that the needs of the uncontacted peoples are met without compromising the self-imposed isolation requirements of the Tagaeri and Taromenane .
  • Creation of a citizens' watchdog with representatives from various social groups whose task it is to ensure compliance with the commitments made through the initiative.
  • Appointment of a civil society representative to serve on the board of the International Trust Fund.
  • Promoting communication and networking with citizens around the world who want to support this initiative in their countries.

Failure of the initiative

On August 16, 2013, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa announced in a televised address that the ITT blocks would be cleared for oil drilling. He justified this with the failure of the international community to provide the expected financial resources. At the time of the announcement, only about $ 335 million had been committed and only $ 13.3 million had actually been paid. The contributions paid are now to be repaid. At the beginning of October 2013, Parliament approved the government proposal by 108 votes to 25 to allow oil drilling subject to conditions.

support

The project was publicly supported by various internationally recognized personalities, including a. Desmond Tutu , Rigoberta Menchú , Jody Williams and Muhammad Yunus , Nobel Peace Prize Laureates; Rita Levi Montalcini , Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology and Medicine; the former President Mikhail Gorbachev (former USSR), Felipe González (Spain), Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil), Ricardo Lagos (Chile); Prince Charles (Great Britain) and Danielle Mitterrand (Head of the France Libertés Foundation). In addition, the German Bundestag formally approved the initiative at the beginning - with the unanimous support of all parties represented there; also the European Union and other international organizations such as u. a. the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) , the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) , the Andean Community (CAN) , the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), the Organization of American States (OAS) and civil society organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN) .

References of the Yasuní ITT initiative to Germany

Both German government organizations and numerous NGOs have contacts to the Yasuní-ITT initiative.

After the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development under Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul had publicly supported the project until 2009 and had promised financial participation, this support was officially rejected in 2010 under the new Development Minister Dirk Niebel .

On July 4, 2011, an online petition was submitted aiming at the support of the project by the German government.

The rainforest protection foundation OroVerde also publicly declared its support for the initiative in 2012. However, OroVerde also pointed out some weaknesses for the organization in the fact that the initiative only covered a small part of the national park and its oil resources. In addition, measuring the value of the forest on the basis of the oil price is not a suitable means. OroVerde therefore called for the Yasuní-ITT initiative to be promoted - combined with clear requirements for eliminating the weaknesses mentioned.

A replicable model?

With the proposal of the indefinite non-extraction of fossil fuel deposits in ecologically and / or culturally very fragile areas, the Yasuní-ITT initiative opened a mechanism to prevent greenhouse gas emissions with the participation of developing countries.

The countries eligible for this new mechanism should meet the following conditions:

  • You should be one of the developing countries. A most attractive aspect of this mechanism is that it pursues three objectives simultaneously: combating climate change , protecting biodiversity, and combating poverty and inequality . The initiative promotes sustainable development .
  • They should be megadiversity countries between the northern and southern tropics, where the greatest concentration of tropical forests is located. The world's greatest biodiversity is found in these countries.
  • They should have large reserves of fossil fuels in biologically and culturally highly sensitive areas.

Among the countries that also meet these conditions are: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Guatemala (very topical: Laguna del Tigre project ), Madagascar, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines and Venezuela. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has listed 19 countries in the world as megadivers.

bibliography

  • Greenberg, J. & Kefauver, S. & Stimson, H. & Yeaton, C. & Ustin, S. (2005): Survival analysis of a neotropical rainforest using multitemporal satellite imagery . In: Remote Sensing of Environment. 96 (2): 202-211.
  • Ministerio del Ambiente & Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio e Integración (2007): Yasuní-ITT initiative. The big proposal of a small country . 29-44.
  • Leah Temper and Joan Martinez Alier: The oil should stay in the ground ( Memento from August 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Le Monde Diplomatique from May 9, 2008

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Amazon region: Ecuador allows oil drilling in the national park. In: Spiegel Online . August 16, 2013, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Ecuador: Parliament allows oil production in the national park ( memento from October 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) - tagesschau.de, October 4, 2013
  3. ↑ Ecuador congress approves Yasuni basin oil drilling in Amazon ( Memento of October 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) - swissinfo.ch, October 5, 2013
  4. ^ Gregor Mayntz: Minister overturns rainforest project. In: RP Online. September 18, 2010, accessed September 18, 2010 .
  5. ↑ Online petition for the conservation of Yasuni National Park. July 4, 2011, accessed July 25, 2011 .
  6. ↑ Position paper from OroVerde on Yasuni-ITT from January 2012