MARTIN, Pamela L., Oil in the Soil. The Politics of Paying to Preserve the Amazon. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Maryland, 2011, 147 pp.
| Autor | Malka San Lucas Ceballos |
| Cargo | Research Fellow. Tarragona Centre for Environmental Law Studies (CEDAT). Universitat Rovira i Virgili |
| Páginas | 1-5 |
Page 1
In the international climate change negotiations it has been clearly demonstrated that new post-Kyoto mechanisms would be a major issue in order to overcome the climate crisis we are going through. The necessity to protect tropical forests, which constitute a vast carbon pool, and the biodiversity they shelter, has also become a major challenge for the international community on environmental matters.
In this context Ecuador, inspired on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and looking for an alternative for the country, announced in 2007 the Yasuní-ITT (Ishpingo, Tambococha, Tiputini) Initiative, a proposal that pretends to mitigate climate change, protect biodiversity and not contacted indigenous peoples, and to reduce poverty and inequality in the country.
Pamela L. Martin examines Ecuador’s unique initiative of keeping Oil in the Soil in this portion of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the ITT blocks within the Yasuní National Park (YNP), in exchange for contributions from the international community. This precise section of the Amazon is considered one of the world’s most biodiverse places, not just compared to other places in the planet but even compared to other places in the Amazon itself. The author conducts a careful and extensive analysis involving all the relevant actors in the region with a profound study of the culture, economic aspects and ecosystems that converge as part of the Initiative.
To explain the motivation and the multiple objectives of this proposal, Martin explores six interconnecting subjects that correspond to each one of the chapters of the book: 1) the "buen vivir" (good life), innovative concept that appears in the Ecuadorian Constitution of 2008; 2) international relations and globalization related to the creation of new values and norms to protect the environment and the indigenous peoples; 3) the historical events and social learning that have resulted from the oil and environmental policies and negotiations; 4) the structure and technical aspects of the policy of paying to preserve; 5) the agents and norms involved in the Initiative and, finally 6) the national and international perspectives and political opportunities of the Initiative.
Page 2
The "buen vivir" or good life is the first perspective to analyze the Initiative, since it is consistent with it and establishes the roots for such a proposal. The Ecuadorian Constitution provides rights to nature with the goal of achieving harmonious balance between nature and humankind. Buen vivir is a concept that aims to shift the focus from a development driven by the neoliberal ideology of markets to a new development that prioritizes equitable and sustainable living (p. 2). The...
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