Ecuador’s presidential candidates’ environmental plans concern greens

Quito (AFP)

The environmental plans of left-wing Andres Aras and right-wing Guillermo Lasso, who are running in Sunday’s Ecuadorian presidential election, are far from convincing activists that they do not support both because they want to sustain oil exploitation. Minerals.

After evaluating the plans of the 16 candidates who participated in the first round on February 7, the final 60 people, known as Frende Al Ambient, an environmental and human rights organization, determined that none of the finalists were “green.”

With 63.6 out of 100 points, former Socialist President Rafael Correa (2007-2017)’s Dolphin Aras received an “anxiety” (with yellow) rating in the environmental traffic light, while a 36.5 lasso “toxic” (red).

Korea promoted the current Ecuadorian constitution in 2008, making it one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world, recognizing the rights of “Bacha Mama” – “Mother Earth” in Quechua, i.e. respecting its existence and maintaining its life cycles.

The best rating, appearing in 93.4% green, is Yahu Perez, a left-wing indigenous leader who has emerged as a permanent responsible for some of the environmental sectors for his fight against water conservation and mining.

Peres, who finished third in the first round of the election, is a member of the Green Party, the political wing of the largest domestic movement against the massive exploitation of natural resources centered on tribal areas.

Natalia Green, co-ordinator of nature conservation organizations (Sydenma), told AFP that “we started with non-green candidates, so commitments are needed” for this Sunday’s vote.

– Ni Laso, Ni Aras –

The group is part of a broader front whose position is not to “invite one of the two candidates to vote”, but to “contribute to informed voting by showing what their environmental obligations are.”

Although the dollar-denominated Ecuadorian economy depends on oil sales and relies on the extraction of minerals on an industrial scale, activists, who began in 2019, have signed two final green groups.

If elected, Lasso – a 65-year-old conservative former banker – for example, has agreed to reduce the use of fossil fuels, “stop” deforestation and undertake new projects to generate electricity using the potential of renewable resources.

Aras, an economist who could become the youngest president at the age of 36 since the return of democracy to Ecuador in 1979, proposes decarbonization of the energy production and public transportation system, as well as to stop the expansion of the oil border.

“Ecuador is still mired in a divisive policy, which means both candidates think Ecuador’s future is in oil and has nothing to do with reality,” the director of social intelligence told AFP. Andion University Environmental Simon Bolivar, Carlos Laria.

According to him, the nation “needs to diversify its economy”, which is in crisis due to the low cost of crude oil and the effects of epidemics, and “the ability to convert oil in any way to a major environmental impact”.

– Biodiversity = Economy –

Quito aims to contribute 4% to GDP growth by 2021, up from 1.6% in 2019.

After an assessment of “who is green or less green, who is‘ concerned ’and‘ toxic ’, environmental activists demand“ obligations with nature ”that are real and enforceable, without falling into the mouthpiece.

It proposed a leading ten-point agenda for presidential candidates, which would consider developing programs to mitigate the harmful effects of segregation by regenerating affected ecosystems and ensuring the rights of nature.

“The extraction of non-renewable resources is not compatible with the conservation and sustainable management of natural areas, but due to particularly fragile ecosystems, these activities should be banned immediately in these ecosystems,” the document states.

Laria noted that Ecuador “needs an enormous turning point that cannot be improved in its long – term development strategy, which reinforces its uniqueness worldwide, its biodiversity, cultural heritage and tourism potential.”

He added that the country’s biodiversity situation is “very serious because we have lost more or less one-sixth of the Amazon rainforest due to oil extraction.”

Ecuador, rich in oil and minerals, represents 50% of the Amazon national landmass, 250,000 km2.

© 2021 AFP