Towards a Post-Oil Civilization. Yasunization and other initiatives to leave fossil fuels in the soil
May 21st, 2013
Ejolt report 6: Towards a Post-Oil Civilization. Yasunization and other initiatives to leave fossil fuels in the soil
The low resolution report can be downloaded here.
The high resolution report can be downloaded here.
Abstract
This Report traces the birth and growth
of the idea of leaving oil in the ground. This arose after many decades
of cruel conflicts caused by major oil companies, Shell and Chevron
(Texaco) in the Niger Delta (involving the Ogoni and Ijaw peoples) and
in the Amazon of Ecuador. Environmental justice organisations and
networks (ERA, Acción Ecológica, Oilwatch) put forward the proposal to
leave fossil fuels in the ground. This proposal makes much sense because
of the need to combat climate change and, in many places, also to
preserve biodiversity and to safeguard the livelihoods and survival of
local populations. Such proposals are known around the world as
Yasunization, from the name of the national park in Ecuador, Yasuní,
where the government agreed in 2007 to leave 850 million barrels of
heavy oil in the soil. The Report analyses in detail the history of the
activist-led initiatives to leave oil in the soil in Nigeria and
Ecuador. It shows how the idea of Yasunization has reached other areas
in Latin America (in the San Andrés and Providencia islands, in the
Peten, and in the Amazon of Bolivia), and describes several examples of
current local struggles against shale gas fracking in Quebec, Europe and
South Africa, some of which are inspired by Yasunization. It explains
how attempts are being made to resist coal mining in New Zealand, tar
sand extraction in several African countries including again Nigeria,
and offshore oil extraction in the Canary islands, in Ghana and in
the Lofoten islands in Norway. The last chapter analyses the links
between Yasunization (leave fossil fuels in the ground) and the world
movement in defense of indigenous peoples, and also the difficult
collaboration between Yasunization and the Conservation movement. It
discusses the financial aspects of the Yasuni ITT proposal, and sides
against ‘carbon trading’. The final conclusions show the roots of
Yasunization in local conflicts in concrete places or territories, and
its decisive importance for a post-oil economy and civilization.
Keywords: oil
extraction, gas flaring, gas fracking, tar sands, Nigeria, Ogoni,
Ecuador, Oilwatch, Climate change policies, unburnable carbon,
biodiversity conservation, indigenous territorial rights, yasunisation
Authors: Leah Temper
(UAB), Ivonne Yánez (Acción Ecológica), Khadija Sharife (CCS), Godwin
Ojo (ERA), Joan Martinez-Alier (UAB) with chapter contributions by Coal
Action Network Aotearoa (CANA), Maxime Combes (ATTAC), Kim Cornelissen
(AQLPA), Helga Lerkelund (FoE Norway), Marina Louw (ELA CT), Esperanza
Martínez (Oliwatch Sudamérica), Joan Martinez-Alier (UAB), Jolynn
Minnaar (Unearthed), Patricia Molina (FOBOMADE), Diana Murcia (Instituto
de Estudios Ecologistas del Tercer Mundo), Godwin Ojo (ERA), Temitope
Oriola (University of Massachusetts), Asume Osuoka (ERA), María del Mar
Pérez, Tatiana Roa Avendaño (CENSAT), Leah Temper (UAB), Leire Urkidi
(EKOPOL), Mercedes Valdés (Savia), Noble Wadzah (Oilwatch Ghana), Sarah
Wykes
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