The ITT is one of the major oil extraction projects in Ecuador coveted by transnationals of all colors and origins, not only for the volume of commercially exploitable reserves (900 million barrels of crude oil), but essentially because it is located in the heart of the Yasuní National Park, an area that would allow the concessionaire companies and their protective states to access and control significant biodiversity resources, one of the main freshwater reserves on the planet; and also to maintain a presence in the area of geostrategic dispute and implementation of the IIRSA project and its Ecuadorian component, the Manta-Manaus-Belem Multimodal Axis.
The proposal to keep the oil underground essentially seeks to protect the existence of the last uncontacted clans on the planet, the Tagaeri and Taromenae, who move around in the so-called intangible zone, at the edge of the Yasuní Park; it would also “prevent the emission of 407 million metric tons of CO2.
Furthermore, it would avoid the effects of deforestation and pollution caused by oil exploitation, which would affect an ecosystem that was established as a National Park in 1979 and declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1989. The ITT reserves are located under one of the areas of greatest biodiversity on the planet, which is home to no less than 165 species of mammals, 110 species of amphibians, 72 species of reptiles, 630 species of birds, 1,130 species of trees and 280 species of lianas, not counting countless species of invertebrates that have not yet been studied.”
The main interest in the exploitation of the ITT comes from Beijing, Brasilia, Caracas and other partners of the so-called BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India (Iran), China and Singapore). Precisely, the only firm offer is the agreement signed between Petroecuador and Petrobrás, Sinopec of China and Enap of Chile.
The project to keep the oil underground, promoted under the same name as ITT Yasuní, is a proposal put forward in 2007 by environmental pressure groups and adopted by the government of Ecuador, which, in order to "make it viable", proposed a compensation mechanism for the income not received by not exploiting the oil resources and the contribution of keeping the crude oil underground to the carbon market. This compensation would be made by the international community to the Ecuadorian state under the criteria of ecological economics, environmental economics and natural resource economics.
Although some countries have refused to provide support, citing a variety of reasons, the Ecuadorian government has recently stated that it does expect to secure the first $100 million (of the $3.5 billion expected over 10 years as compensation for not exploiting) before the end of the year. To this end, under the name Yasunízate, it is carrying out a broad media campaign to obtain part of these funds within Ecuador.
Leo Guagua adds that President Correa’s ambiguous speech, “demonstrating his lack of interest in listening to the voice of the people, such as in the Quimsacocha (mining) projects and that of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku (one of the 5 ethnic groups that would be affected if the bidding processes for new oil blocks were to take place), has caused several potential donors to back down”; and he affirms that “Ecuador is rich in biodiversity, that should be our strength and those who are in charge of the governments should act intelligently to promote it as a growing source of foreign currency for the country and not continue with the same extractivist model that they offered to end; it seems that they ended up becoming the Extractivists of the 21st Century” concludes Guagua.
Sources of information
Yasuní Proposal Document: Alberto Acosta and environmental organizations.
Public News Agency of Ecuador
Wikipedia
AVATAR: Between Yasuní and 21st century extractivism by Fernando Villavicencio Valencia.
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