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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0-9

Towards a Post-Oil Civilization: Yasunization and other initiatives to leave fossil fuels in the soil

Author: L.Temper, I. Yánez, K. Sharife, O. Godwin and J. Martinez-Alier
Organisation: Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade (EJOLT)
Publish Date: May 2013
Country: Global
Sector: Petroleum
Method: Forecasting
Theme: Futures
Type: Report
Language: English
Tags: Oil extraction, Gas flaring, Gas fracking, Tar sands, Nigeria, Ogoni, Ecuador,
Oilwatch, Climate change policies, Unburnable carbon, Biodiversity conservation, Indigenous territorial rights, Yasunization, Climate justice activism

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.
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