OILWATCH KEEP OIL UNDERGROUND the only way to fight climate change from the last bit Publication Edition Piet Boedt Esperanza Martínez Graphic Design Tom Heirman Maps World Oil Atlas, Oilwatch Manuel Pallares Ecociencia ClimaLatina Photos Oilwatch Eduardo Quintana With the assistance of Joseph Mutti Joel Ruprecht Pato Chavez Xavier Leon Alexander Naranjo Publication supported by IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands Bali, 2007 INDEX CHAPTER 1: THE PROPOSAL Leaving crude oil underground 3 New frontiers 4 Ecuador: Yasuní National Park 6 Timor Leste 8 Mauritania: an ecological cry 10 Bolivia: Madidi National Park 12 Indonesia: Lorentz National Park 14 Nigeria: no more oil blocks 16 CHAPTER 2: THE YASUNÍ MODEL The legal structure of Yasuní National Park 18 The Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT ) Project 20 Predictable impacts of the oil activities in Yasuní 22 The biodiversity of Yasuní: numbers and threats 24 Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples, societies of abundance 26 CHAPTER 3: BEYOND THE VALUE Is there economic sense in leaving the oil underground? 28 The hidden costs of petroleum 30 The value of the oil if left underground 34 The invisible impacts 36 Global warming 38 CHAPTER 4: THE GEOPOLITICS OF OIL Oil and the genesis of the capitalist civilization 40 Global end of oil 42 Twentieth century wars 44 CHAPTER 5: TECHNO-FIXES Techno-fixes 46 Cutting-edge technology 48 Waste management 50 The geopolitics of agrofuels 52 CHAPTER 6: A NORTH-SOUTH VISION Common but differentiated responsabilities 56 Mitigating emissions or mitigating impacts 58 Carbon trading 60 Kyoto has failed 62 Oil policies from the south 64 CHAPTER 7: DECLARATIONS Kyoto failure... oil ignored deliberately 66 Declaration on behalf of de-developmentism 68 The international eco-logical call 70 Contact information 71 THE PROPOSAL LEAVING CRUDE OIL Expected results are: UNDERGROUND • Protection of ecosystems in A new energy and those areas chosen to be the development model that new frontiers of oil devastation. proposes leaving oil under- • Protection of local and global ground is here presented climates. as the only sensible way • Respect for the rights of local to confront the today´s populations. challenges and oppose the • Putting to work a new post-oil emissions market scheme both sides of the common, but dif- energy model. as a way to confront climate ferent, responsibilities. On the one change. side is the responsibility of the na- tions of the South of the planet to Four types of parties have been It is an ecological model conserve their forests and guaran- identified as potential donors: to replace the “eco-illogical” model, tee conditions of survival of their imposed under the free market local populations, and on the other • NGO and cooperation agencies. paradigm of unlimited growth. is the responsibility of countries • Individuals from Ecuador and The proposal was pre- that contaminate the atmosphere around the planet. sented by Ecuador in 2007, at a and which need to avoid the ex- • Governments. time when the race to extract oil traction and consumption of more • Industries. from the most distant frontiers - fossil fuels. the most vulnerable and fragile ar- eas of the planet - threatens us all, There are different options under because it has caused an unprec- The proposal consists of: analysis to obtain the necessary edented climate crisis and condi- funds to implement this proposal tions of extreme impoverishment- • Not extracting the oil. including: ing for the majority of the world´s • Channelling resources from the developing economies. symbolic sale of oil that will not • Tax deductible donations It is a new energy model be extracted. from income taxes in different that opposes the decadent model • A capitalization fund, from countries. of extracting and burning what na- which interest will provide • Direct donations through the ture has taken millions of years to permanent income. internet. produce. • Develop a model of self- • National campaigns seeking It is an economic model sufficiency (zero emissions, zero support. that seeks not to live from the ex- waste) with these funds for a • Donations from cooperation portation of non-renewable natural food production and energy agencies. richness because it causes a huge supply in a post oil era. • Government to government impact on nature. agreements to allocate amounts It is a proposal that to the proposal or the questions the perception of the cancellation of external debt. dominant model of unlimited and • Philanthropic funds. unsustainable growth based on competition and market forces. Several countries are Esperanza Martínez interested in developing similar Oilwatch models or, at least, have the same objectives. All of them include 3 CHAPTER 1 NEW FRONTIERS* A sustainable model and energy independence based on WHERE THIS PROPOSAL could reduce the vulnerability of diverse low impact energy models. COULD BE APPLIED climate change, increasing resil- • Fragile zones exposed to climate ience capacity. However, climate change, such as mangrove areas or Even though the change erodes the capacity to adapt island states. planet is experiencing a cli- to direct and indirect impacts. The • Arguments for avoiding new oil mate crisis, the oil industry burden of these impacts will fall exploration frontiers is expanding to new fron- upon the marginal populations, tiers, with the majority of and further widen the gap between 1. Climate Change such frontiers being mature north and south, rich and poor. forests or very sensitive ar- Some basic criteria to Climate change is now eas. support the proposal of keeping positioned not only on national the oil underground, come from and international agendas, but Currently the world’s oil recognizing urgent issues such as: also in the everyday lives of people. reserves are 800 billion barrels. If It is no longer a threat or specula- these reserves are burned, more • Maintaining and developing au- tion, but has become a reality that than 320 billion tons of additional tonomous and self-sufficient mod- demands concrete and immediate CO 2 would be produced, reaching a els that: produce zero or close to action. The two principal causes critical point for the planet. zero emissions, recycling wastes of global warming are the burning In order to expand these and working at low levels of entro- of fossil fuels and deforestation. new frontiers public and private py, as is the case of the indigenous Deforestation of man- enterprises are applying diverse communities or traditional peoples groves, for example, could be di- strategies. One characteristic of that maintain a harmonious rela- sastrous for the populations that “de-globalization” that is increas- tionship with nature. live in the area because it renders ingly apparent is the re-positioning • Maintaining zones of mature the coasts even more vulnerable. of nation states over transnational forest, where the structure and Island forest conservation is one corporations. In this process the functions of the forests contrib- of the few protection guarantees. permanent beneficiaries become ute to maintaining a hydrologic Forest conservation in general the services companies, because equilibrium that in turn helps the also protects local climates. they have an advantageous posi- planet to cool – such as with the tion with transnational corpora- tropical forests. tions and companies owned by the • National economies that have state. politics favoring food sovereignty The expected impacts in this new scheme to exhaust oil re- serves and then increase them with new exploration, involve opening new vulnerable zones - especially local ones. They also deepen the dependence of those countries whose economies depend on the extraction and exportation of oil. Because climate change affects food production, it puts populations at risk, especially the coastal ones, and threatens water availability. These aspects should therefore be carefully conserved. 4 THE PROPOSAL 2. Destruction of 4. Non-Oil Dependent garbage production are less than Biodiversity Economies in oil dependent models. The oil economy pro- The majority of the Non-oil dependent econ- motes food and energy patterns planet´s biodiversity is located in omies have healthier conditions, based on this resource that is not the South. but those that are dependent on only non-renewable but causes Oil extraction causes in- oil quickly present symptoms of great impact during its extraction evitable destruction of biodiversity. the “Dutch sickness”, meaning that and consumption. However, maybe the most serious all the other productive activities and direct impact of this activity decrease. Oil exploitation is the ac- 6. Destruction of Fresh are toxic water discharges into the tivity that causes the most environ- Water Sources environment as well as other pol- mental and social problems. Cor- luting wastes. These substances ruption, invasions and fraud are all Fresh water is a basic are bio-accumulative and have a part of the oil industry business. element for life and it is scarce. direct relationship with a number Developing new and di- The survival of nature depends on of illnesses. verse energy sources is a necessity its maintenance cycle. However, that cannot be postponed, as it will many oil activities destroy both diversify the incomes of national 3. Traditional Peoples surface and underground fresh economies that are dependent on water sources. A basic criterion to the exportation of this non-renew- Local populations do not determine areas free of oil activities able resource. only conserve important biodiver- should be water protection. sity zones, but through agriculture they have increased it. They also 5. Protection of the Self- * Esperanza Martínez, Oilwatch retain information and technical sufficient Model knowledge that is priceless. For these populations the health of the There are communities ecosystem is indispensable. and economies that maintain a For these populations self-sufficient scheme that guar- that maintain profound relation- antees their food sovereignty with ships with nature, the conservation access and control to the entire of their territory is the only way to food cycle.