ECUADOR鈥檚 unprecedented offer to accept payment for not extracting oil from beneath the Amazon rainforest is beginning to draw interest. The move could usher in a new way to both combat climate change and prevent damage to ecologically diverse and sensitive regions.
More than two years ago, plans for drilling in Yasuni National Park, one of the few pristine regions of Amazon rainforest remaining, if it was paid half of the $7 billion that it expected to earn from tapping the oilfield. 鈥淭his was a major turning point in the 鈥榙rill, drill, drill鈥� mentality,鈥� says Matt Finer, an ecologist with , an environmental group based in Washington DC, which released its analysis of the initiative this week ().
鈥淓cuador said it would not drill if it was paid half of what it expected to earn from the oilfield鈥�
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No country has taken up Ecuador鈥檚 offer so far, but Finer says there has been 鈥渋ncreasing chatter鈥� that Germany will pay about 20 per cent of the total.
Later this month, the UN Development Programme is expected to announce plans to hold contributions in a trust fund, passing along only the fund鈥檚 interest to Ecuador. The idea is that this will give future Ecuadoran governments an incentive not to start drilling for oil, while also encouraging other nations to pay up.
