Hi John,
Ecuadorian activists need our solidarity in their fight to protect their rainforest.
This is urgent. Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest in under threat, and we have a chance to help protect it.
Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park is home to indigenous peoples and is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Now it’s being threatened with oil drilling.
On 20 August Ecuadorians will vote in a referendum. They can approve oil drilling in the Yasuní, or ban it forever.
Can you donate £5 to the campaign to see oil drilling permanently banned in the Yasuní?
|
|
Your donation will go directly to Ecuadorian activists for crucial campaigning activities like:
- Printing campaign materials
- Running social media campaigns and press ads
- Paying for campaign events
Rich countries need to pay up
In 2007, then Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, promised to protect the Yasuní and keep its oil reserves in the ground.
But we know that oil makes big money, and the global south requires the solidarity of wealthy governments to transition away from it.
That’s why Correa asked the international community to contribute to a compensation fund so that Ecuador’s economy could grow without expanding climate-wrecking oil exploration.
If governments in the global north had contributed, the whole world would have benefited. We could have been one step closer to a just transition away from fossil fuels. It would have been an investment in all of our futures.
Of course, they failed to pay up.
The global north profited from destabilising Ecuador’s economy during the colonial period. And for decades, rich governments have enforced global economic rules that allow a few nations to hoard wealth at other countries’ expense.
And they’ve profited from climate-wrecking industries like oil and gas. The UK is home to Shell and BP. These are two of the biggest polluters whose activities are already wreaking havoc on countries in the global south.
Our research estimates that the big five oil companies, all based in the global north, could owe the global south nearly $8 trillion in climate reparations. If governments in the UK and elsewhere were brave enough to make polluters pay, they could use that money to compensate the global south for keeping oil in the ground.
Urgently halting all new oil drilling is crucial for curing the world’s addiction to fossil fuels. Ditching oil and gas is the only way to secure a sustainable future for humanity.
Ecuador took a bold step in promising to leave oil reserves untouched. Governments in the global north owed them a debt for doing so.
Once again, our governments have failed. But our movement is powerful and ready to fight for climate justice.
As well as campaigning to make polluters pay, we’re standing in solidarity with the Ecuadorian activists who are fighting the destruction of one of their precious local environments.
If you donate, you’ll be standing with them too.
|
|
Battling big oil
This is the frontline of the battle to keep fossil fuels in the ground. And we know that Ecuadorian activists will be fighting some powerful opponents.
Ecuador’s current president and his team are spreading potential misinformation about what will happen to the economy without new oil drilling. They have already tried to block a referendum and push forward with destroying another area of the Amazon. But activists wouldn’t give up until the question of oil drilling in the Yasuní was taken to the people.
And it’s possible that oil companies are supporting the Ecuadorian government’s campaign. They’ll likely already be counting the cash they can make out of displacing indigenous peoples and thousands of wildlife species in the Yasuní.
As the climate crisis deepens, all big oil can think about is their profits. Just this week, we heard companies are forecast to increase oil investments by about 11% this year, because they are more profitable than renewables in the short term. They could well be eyeing up the Yasuní as a place to start drilling to achieve this increase.
It’s time to send them a signal: we will fight for our homes and the homes of others. We will fight for precious biodiverse environments, for our planet and for all of our futures.
In saying no to oil drilling in the Yasuní, Ecuador would be a world leader in climate justice. It would set an example for other countries to reject new oil, and send a signal to polluters that they can’t keep profiting from the climate disaster.
Indigenous people, environmental groups and youth activists in Ecuador are bravely standing at the forefront of this fight. You can stand with them by donating to their campaign.
In solidarity
Izzie McIntosh
Climate Campaigner at Global Justice Now
P.S. This is urgent: Ecuadorians go to the polls on 20 August. The campaign is happening right now and your donation, however small, will make a difference.
|
|
|
|
