An unusual deal is part of a new United Nations initiative to persuade energy-rich countries not to drill for oil and gas in environmentally sensitive areas. Ecuador has therefore agreed not to touch three oil fields in the Yasuni region of the Amazon for the next ten years, if rich countries buy enough 'Amazon bonds'. Under the terms, donating nations pay an amount per year for a decade - receiving no dividend except an environmental one.
Ecuador's Yasuni reserves are estimated to hold 846m barrels of crude - or a fifth of Ecuador's total.
Raising the money will save the 3,800 square mile forest that is home to rare animals and indigenous peoples. Cutting down trees to develop the area would have released 400m tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
The proposed sum of $3.6 billion is only half the $7 billion that it might have been made through selling the extracted oil at today's prices.
Read more: Daily Telegraph...
No comments:
Post a Comment