The Yasuní-ITT initiative was an international financing scheme in which the Ecuadorian government agreed to abandon drilling in the park in exchange for foreign compensation in the amount of $3.6 billion USD over 12 years. Embedded in a global framework of income redistribution for development, the Yasuní-ITT initiative established a model of global environmental care based on global North-South difference and historical ecological debt.
Introduction
Methodology
To answer my research question, I conduct a qualitative analysis of various sources from local, national and international publications. The themes generated by NVivo guided my research questions and helped me determine what was important. In addition, I refer to primary documents and sources from economic and country data, the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution, the UN Constitution and the 2008 Constitution.
I also use social media accounts to show a different perspective than the Ecuadorian state media publishes.
Literature Review
- General History: Protectionism, Neoliberalism, 21 st Century Socialism
- Oil Politics Under the Correa Administrations
- Contemporary Environmental Politics: The Yasuní ITT Initiative
- Conclusion and Contribution
And we were also inspired by Eloy Alfaro's liberal revolution—the only real revolution that happened before ours in this country. Technical Advisory Report "The biodiversity of Yasuni National Park, its conservation importance, the impact of roads within it, and our position statement." Look for species. Valdivia, Gabriela, "The Amazon Trial of the Century: Indigenous Identities, Transnational Networks, and Petroleum in Ecuador." Alternatives.
Verónica Silva, Franklin Ramírez Gallegos, Maetthieu Le Quang, "Iniciativa Yasuní ITT: novim imaginarijem naproti." Latinskoameriške perspektive.
The Correa Administrations: Making Strides toward Social and Environmental
Revolución Ciudadana
The Correa administration's partnership with China is the main contributor to the realization of the Citizen's Revolution. The Yasuní ITT initiative was a way for the Ecuadorian government to connect Ecuador with the rest of the world through the idea of global green sovereignty. The next source of evidence is a televised speech Correa made in 2013 where he addressed the failure of the Yasuní ITT initiative and his intention to dissolve the Yasuní Fund.
The second section focuses on the environmental politics of the Yasuní ITT initiative as well as attempts to explain its ultimate failure. The Yasuní ITT initiative is one of Correa's hallmarks; in essence, it was a pioneering economic and political alternative that offered other extractive-dependent countries a new method to achieve sustainable development (Lu, Valdivia, Silva 2017: 24). I have signed an executive decree liquidating the Yasuní ITT trust fund, thus ending the initiative.
While the idea of the Yasuní ITT Initiative is revolutionary because it generated a new model of thinking about ecological responsibility, the biggest design flaw was the lack of clear structure in the funding mechanism. The Yasuní Fund will be administered by UNDP's Multi-Partnership Trust Fund Office (MPFT Office) and will be overseen by a "Steering Committee" led by the Government of Ecuador. The structure of the fund would be divided into two windows: the Capital Fund and the Income Fund Window (Yasuní Trust 2010:6).
The blog Yasuní Forever writes that "it [the Yasuní fund] hardly looks like a resounding triumph, as it is a mixture of written-off debt, a donation from the president of Ecuador himself and several others." The blog refers to the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, contributing $51 million USD by deducting it from the Ecuadorian debt to Italy. The Yasuní ITT initiative required the participation of the international community, especially the financial assistance of developed countries, to achieve greater equality (Rival 2010:359). Perhaps his greatest contribution to the international community is a reinforcement of the idea that climate change responsibility is here to stay.
The Yasuní ITT initiative was the Correa administration's attempt to transform Ecuador into a post-petroleum society; its failure can be attributed in part to the pioneering aspects of the model, which lacked sophisticated international coordination due to its novelty.
Buen Vivir and Envrionmental Politics
Oil Dependence and Alternative Energy
While oil extraction provided periods of growth in the 1980s, the Ecuadorian government had taken out several loans with the IMF to cover those areas of the economy that oil exports were not supporting (Sawyer. China has built large pieces of infrastructure, including six hydroelectric facilities and numerous highways under the administration of Correa (Secretaría Nacional de Planificación y Desarrollo) What a developing country like Ecuador needs is financing and we have been able to have it with China. 6 Chinese financing has allowed us to be the Latin American country with more public investments and has transformed the country's infrastructure.7 It is not only without conditions, it does not come with conditions, but it also comes with technology exchange.8" (Sputnik Mundo 2016).
The Coca-Codo hydroelectric plant located in the Napo province of eastern Ecuador was the first hydroelectric plant built in Ecuador. Chinese factory information is visible on the left, as well as the Ecuadorian seal and the colors of the flag on the right, serving as a reminder of the countries' partnership and the national government's contribution to development. Not only does Coca-Codo provide income for the country, it utilizes an alternative energy source that does not contribute to the degradation of the surrounding environments.
This facility has become a source of pride for the Ecuadorian government, especially the Correa administration that is credited with beginning to "transform the energy matrix to guarantee the development of the country," (Secretaría Nacional de Planificación y Desarrollo). Sopadora Hydroelectric Project is one of the first projects the Ecuadorian government has agreed to build with Chinese financing and illustrates the Correa administration's pursuit of alternative energy. Sopadora is the first underground hydroelectric plant, unlike the above-ground Coca-Codo facility, and it can produce up to 487 MWs (Lucci 2014:4).
The Sopadora and Coca-Codo hydroelectric plants are important because they mark the intentions of the Correa administration to find alternative renewable energy sources. It is worth noting that Chinese investment does not come without a price; Correa has assured that Ecuador's debt to China is "strictly acceptable and manageable".
Conclusion
The physical and infrastructural changes that Ecuador has experienced under the Correa administrations are extensive. With a total of nearly US$26 billion, Correa has invested four times as much as the previous four administrations combined (Ecuador, Secretaría Nacional de Planificación y Desarrollo). Statistically, Correa has been successful in implementing his goal of increasing equality and living standards.
Correa has facilitated social mobility by increasing social spending and access to greater resources, financed in part by oil extraction, foreign loans and newly created alternative energy sources. Correa has asked investors to help with over 85 strategic projects that the country has begun to build (El Universo 2016). While Yasuní National Park is only a microcosm, it is representative of the opportunity for climate change responsibility that has local, national and worldwide benefits.
The International Politics of Climate Change Mitigation
- Resource Extraction and Alternative Energy
- Dynamics of the Yasuní ITT Initative and Yasuní Fund
- International Politics of Climate Change Financing and Notion of Environmental Debt
- International Challenges to Post-petroleum Transition
- Conclusion
The Yasuní ITT initiative was innovative in its attempt to circumvent Ecuador's dependence on oil extraction without suffering economic loss. The Yasuní ITT Initiative is a non-exploitative financial arrangement between the Ecuadorian government and the international community that puts “social and environmental values first” by leaving the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) oil fields in Yasuní National Park undisturbed ( ITT Trust 2010 :2). The revenue fund window would be financed with contributions from the Yasuní Trust (Yasuni Trust 2010:6).
Despite widespread international support, the actual monetary investment in the Yasuní ITT initiative was not enough to meet the project's requirements. The images below are from the Yasuní Capital Window published on the Yasuní Fund's official U.N. UNDP Trust Fund, but were instead donations to Yasuní National Park itself (Yasuní Fund, UNFCC).
The Ecuadorian government has come under scrutiny for only repaying the amount stated in the Yasuní Fund (approximately $9 million USD). Correa has said that the Yasuní ITT Initiative was created to “inspire a spirit of global co-responsibility” in addressing environmental challenges (Correa de la Cadena 2013). This proposal is similar to the Yasuní ITT Initiative in that it is a means for sustainability and ecological conservation, as well as a means to finance development.
Despite the Yasuní ITT initiative's failure in implementation, it succeeded in creating green global awareness. The Yasuní-ITT initiative is an example of how the Correa administration recognized and attempted to ameliorate the struggle between socioeconomic development and ecological conservation. The Yasuní-ITT initiative faced structural, institutional and political constraints that contributed to its failure.
The Yasuní ITT Initiative promoted global green sovereignty by inviting other countries to join a movement for solidarity in the fight against climate change.
Conclusion and Final Remarks
Developing countries such as Ecuador are seeking financing mechanisms from the international community, such as the redistribution network proposed in the Yasuní ITT initiative. This thesis brings together the literature on the Correa administration in the context of Ecuadorian economic history, political history, and the evolving history of responsibility for climate change. The thesis connects the concepts of responsibility for climate change and sustainable development by suggesting that.
Análisis con el economista Alfredo Serrano de la decisión de Rafael Correa de finalizar el proyecto Yasuní-ITT. Amnistía Internacional, “Para que nadie exija nada: ¿Criminalizar el derecho a la protesta en Ecuador?” Londres: Publicaciones de Amnistía Internacional. Repensar la gobernabilidad democrática: construcción del Estado, autonomía y rendición de cuentas en el Ecuador de Correa”. Revista de Política en América Latina.
A Financial Proposal to Conserve Oil Underground in Ecuador's Yasuni National Park." Oxford Scholarship Online, 2017. An Unconventional Approach: Ecuador's Yasuní-ITT Initiative Fails to Comply with the UNFCC." Sustainable Development Law and Policy 12, 15-20. The Elusive Search for a Post-Neoliberal Development Model in Bolivia and Ecuador.” Bulletin of Latin American Research.
Evaluating Ecuador's Decision to Leave the Yasuni-ITT Initiative.” University of Toronto, E-International Relations: Students, 2015. Adaptation from below: Low-income women, time, and the triple role in Guayaquil, Ecuador. ” In Viva: Women and Popular Protests in Latin America, ed.
