In Fall 2024, the Human Rights at Home Law Profs Blog is excited to feature a series of blog posts focusing on human rights and the environment written by students in the International Human Rights Clinic at UIC Law. This is the eighth post in that series. The first post can be accessed here. The second post is here. The third post is here. The fourth post is here. The fifth post is here. The sixth post is here. The seventh post is here.
By Elizabeth Arreola & Mariah Khan, 2Ls at UIC Law
Ecuador’s economic reliance on oil drilling has devastated critical areas of the Amazon rainforest polluting the environment. Over five decades of oil extraction have left more than 1,100 contaminated sites, causing water pollution, deforestation, and increased risk of cancer. In 2023, Ecuadorians voted in the Yasuní National Park Oil Referendum to dismantle oil drilling operations threatening the Amazon rainforest and the Indigenous communities living there. The Ecuadorian government has hesitated to comply with the referendum results, due to a conflict with the country's economic interests. This undermines democracy, destroys vital ecosystems, and violates the fundamental rights of Indigenous communities.
Located at the crossroads of the Amazon, Andes, and the equator, Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park is a destination for extractive industries. With one-third of the nation’s revenue deriving from oil extractions, the region’s plants, animals, and people face threats of displacement and extinction. The way of life of the Tagaeri and Teromenane communities, Ecuador’s last Indigenous groups living in voluntary isolation, are compromised by extractive practices. The Park is also the ancestral homeland of the Waorani people, another Indigenous group dependent on the land. The forest is a vital source of spiritual connection and cultural identity for indigenous peoples, who have lived in harmony with the land for generations, relying on it for food, water, and well-being.
In 2007, the Ecuadorian government launched the Yasuní-ITT initiative, aiming to leave over 900 million barrels of oil in indigenous territories in exchange for $3.6 billion in international funding. The initiative fell short and Ecuador abandoned the plan in 2016, allowing oil extraction to begin in the rainforest. Over the years, approximately 18.5 billion gallons of toxic waste have been dumped by Chevron-Texaco oil company contaminating two million acres of rainforest.
Ecuadorians nationwide have disapproved of the practice since the oil drilling commenced. One Waorani activist, Nemonte Nenquino, sends a message to the western world: “I would like modern people to know where oil comes from. It comes from the Amazon. [For you] to have a good life in the city… It is harming our water, it pollutes our water, our animals, our land.” Nenquino highlights the devastating impact of oil extraction on indigenous communities in the Amazon.
Finally, in 2023, after much activism and protest, Ecuador's Constitutional Court, rendered Opinion No. 6-22-CP/23 marking a pivotal moment in the struggle between conservation efforts and oil extraction. The Court upheld the referendum on banning oil drilling in Ecuador’s ITT block and set a framework to end operations. The Court imposed a deadline on the Ecuadorian Government to halt work and remediate the affected areas. This shifted the power from the government, empowering Ecuadorians to vote on changes that would have lasting environmental and human rights impacts. The results from the referendum overwhelmingly demonstrated a priority to preserve life in the Yasuní by preventing 410 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses from being released into the atmosphere. While drilling expansion has ceased, there are concerns over whether current President Daniel Noboa will comply. He suggested utilizing oil drilling to fund against growing violence caused by cartels, however, advocates argue Noboa is taking advantage of the crisis to prolong drilling.
Following his visit in August 2023, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Olivier De Schutter published a report on his official visit to Ecuador. This report highlighted the impact of extractive industries on Indigenous communities, who reported how extraction was polluting or restricting their access to essential resources for sustenance and agriculture. Shortly after the report was released, Ecuador announced plans to phase out oil extraction in the ITT region by 2029 and with two days before the deadline, began dismantling the first of 247 oil wells in the region. The dismantling is projected to cost up to $1.3 billion, a significant financial burden as Ecuador transitions away from oil production. International awareness similar to the Special Rapporteur’s report will be critical in demanding Ecuador respect both the law and the democratic choices of its citizens.
The decision issued by the Court and the Ecuadorian people goes far beyond Yasuní National Park. This is a historic moment as a constitutional court upheld the ability to consider and support the public initiative in favor of protecting nature. Special Rapporteur De Shutter’s report also raised awareness of this issue, which was followed up by Ecuador’s government announcing a phase out of oil extraction in Ecuador. This sets a global precedent for movements worldwide fighting to hold governments accountable for their commitment to the environment, despite economic pressures. This approach could be helpful to increase advocacy efforts in the United States regarding environmental justice, particularly around water rights and indigenous peoples’ rights to land. Environmental and indigenous rights movements across the globe can learn from the actions taken to protect the future of Yasuní, its ecosystems, and its indigenous communities.