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Leaving oil underground in Ecuador: The Yasuní-ITT initiative from a multi-criteria perspective

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  • Vallejo, María Cristina
  • Burbano, Rafael
  • Falconí, Fander
  • Larrea, Carlos

Abstract

The Ecuadorian proposal to keep 846 million barrels of crude oil in the Yasuní National Park underground—for the purposes of avoiding CO2 emissions and to protect both the biological diversity and the indigenous peoples in isolation who inhabit this area of the Amazon—is evaluated from a “multi-criteria” analysis. The main purpose of the paper is to compare this policy option with other alternatives across different values. An analytical framework is used that recognises the inherent complexity of a problem of this nature, in which the financial values are indeed relevant for policy, but other values are also relevant: the economic (in a broad sense), social, environmental, cultural and political. The results confirm that from a financial standpoint, extracting the oil is preferable, but by incorporating the non-monetary values into the multi-criteria decision process, one can plausibly defend the Yasuní-ITT Initiative as the most desirable policy option. Indeed, the social and environmental benefits (or “criteria”) signalling an economic transition towards a model based on renewable sources of energy, along with the protection of critical environmental and social capital, make up for the financial gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Vallejo, María Cristina & Burbano, Rafael & Falconí, Fander & Larrea, Carlos, 2015. "Leaving oil underground in Ecuador: The Yasuní-ITT initiative from a multi-criteria perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 175-185.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:109:y:2015:i:c:p:175-185
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.11.013
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    10. Philippe Le Billon & Berit Kristoffersen, 2020. "Just cuts for fossil fuels? Supply-side carbon constraints and energy transition," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(6), pages 1072-1092, September.
    11. Francesco Facchinelli & Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo & Daniele Codato & Alberto Diantini & Giuseppe Della Fera & Edoardo Crescini & Massimo De Marchi, 2019. "Unburnable and Unleakable Carbon in Western Amazon: Using VIIRS Nightfire Data to Map Gas Flaring and Policy Compliance in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, December.
    12. Pérez-Rincón, Mario & Vargas-Morales, Julieth & Martinez-Alier, Joan, 2019. "Mapping and Analyzing Ecological Distribution Conflicts in Andean Countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 80-91.
    13. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Scarpaci, Joseph, 2016. "Energy justice and the contested petroleum politics of stranded assets: Policy insights from the Yasuní-ITT Initiative in Ecuador," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 158-171.
    14. Santiago Bucaram & Mario Fernandez & Diego Grijalva, 2016. "Sell the oil deposits! A financial proposal to keep the oil underground in the Yasuni National Park, Ecuador," WIDER Working Paper Series 014, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
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