Balcombe to Quebec to Yasuni national park - communities fight back

Phil Byrne

23 August 2013

'I want $3.6bn, no questions asked. That's the bounty. And if I don't see the dough, kiss goodbye to this beautiful world.'

Sounds like a scene out of kidnap-movie Ransom, right? Wrong. This is how one could interpret Ecuador's president who this week effectively armed a ticking oil time bomb - set to go off in one of the most nature diverse hotspots on the planet.

President Rafael Correa has given the signal for parts of Yasuni national park to be bulldozed, drilled for oil and concreted because the international community hadn't coughed up the cash to stop him. The national park in question contains more species in an area the size of Trafalgar Square than all the wildlife in North America.

Crudely put, he gave the world a chance to compensate the privileged few who would benefit from taking oil out of the ground. And what's to say he won't ask for more?

Don't get me wrong, I think that developed countries - who've benefitted from trashing the planet through industrialisation - should help poorer countries - by contributing the technologies and funds they need to grow and adapt to climate change. But paying ransom money to leaders pointing a bulldozer at people's livelihoods and homes is bonkers.

There is reason to be cheerful though. In cities across Ecuador people are uniting. They're planning protests and looking to force a referendum, which they say is likely to defeat Correa's dirty plan.

I'm particularly interested in this fight back because it's not just an isolated occurrence. We're also witnessing people power in Canada - where communities are resisting the piping of tar sands oil. And of course the UK, where local residents in Balcombe are opposing fracking.

In all these cases the national governments are misguidedly attempting to lock societies into carbon-intensive energy production. That's a system which has made a few energy executives rich and contributed to our rising bills. Oh... and then there's climate change. Burning several million barrels of oil isn't exactly a good idea when we know we need to cut emissions or face catastrophic climate-induced human suffering across the globe.

But as we can see, citizens are increasingly resisting this doomed narrative. In an interview for Friends of the Earth's new research project on well-being - Big Ideas Change The World - the Director of Arup, Mark Watts, argues that it's time for all cities around the world to take a lead on creating a fairer, liveable, future for all.

As for the ransom. The people have spoken. Yippie kay yay.

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