Phase 1: Identification of the social choice problem

Extractive activities including fossil fuels exploitation are major issues of social choice for developing countries, because they are at the same time an important source of revenue for the country, as well as a source of environmental contamination which has consequences on ecosystems and human health, and furthermore on unique parameters of life and cultural values, affecting firstly  local people and then the global population.

Yasuní, good living from EJOLT on Vimeo.

More than 40 years of continuous fossil fuel extraction in Ecuador are exhausting the petroleum reserves.  Oil extraction projects are now occuring in areas where natural and human diversity are very sensitive and vulnerable, and where any changes have serious consequences on life. This is the case of Yasuní ITT located in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador.

Yasuní ITT refers to the Ishpingo, Tambococha, and Tiputini oil deposits in the Yasuní National Park. Yasuní ITT is part of one of the most important places in the world in terms of natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Yasuní is home to many indigenous people, some of them living in uncontacted voluntary isolation (Tagaeri and Taromenane), and Amazonian colonists. Some studies have recognised Yasuní as one of the places with highest biodiversity in the world. It has been recognised as a reserve of the Biosphere by the UNESCO.

In 2007 Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa presented to the international community the Yasuní ITT initiative, which intended to leave 846 millions of petroleum barrels indefinitely in the ground against an international contribution equivalent to at least half of the income that the Ecuadorian State would obtain if it exploited the oil.

The official proposal mentions 3 supporting arguments for the initiative:

1. An innovative option for combating global warming by avoiding the exploitation of fossil fuels in areas of high biological and cultural sensitivity.
2. Protecting Ecuador’s biodiversity and supporting the voluntary isolation of uncontacted indigenous people.
3. Social development, nature conservation and implementation of renewable energy sources.

The initiative includes the administration of the Yasuní-ITT Fund by the UNDP, and the investment of its interests in the development of clean energies sources, as well as a national transition from the current development model, based on oil extraction, to a new strategy based on equality and sustainability.[1]

However, civil society organisations have signalled differences between the official proposal from the state and the original proposal made by OilWatch and Acción Ecológica in 2005. The objective is also to maintain indefinitely untapped 846 million barrels. But the main purpose is to preserve life and its people.

This proposal is based on:

• The ‘Sumak Kawsay’ in Quechua language (way that we must cross to satisfy our needs and to reach the accomplishment of our rights) understood as ‘well being’ as the basis of a post-oil civilisation in Ecuador, not dependent anymore from oil, and promotion of relations between humans, collectively and nature.
• Recognise the Rights of Nature and not only nature as a resource to satisfy human needs, nor as human capital.
• The recognition of an ecological debt from countries of the North to countries of the South.
• The notion of Earth Boundaries (or Limits) in terms of Climate and Biodiversity. [2]

​Italy, Turkey, France, Chile, Bank of Development of Latin America, among others, have contributed to the fund of the Yasuní ITT initiative over the last years. In 2011 the Ecuadorian government has raised awareness among citizens through the national and international campaign ‘Yasunízate’, asking people to work together with the fund.

Ecuador is reknowned for its biodiversity and culture. It is also known for its important petroleum reserves that have been crucial for the country's economic income until now. Many contamination cases and peoples right’s forgetfulness were source of important social conflicts in Ecuador. After many years of Ecuador dependence on oil activity incomes, many people ask if it is still the best option for development of this country.