WEBVTT - Los Cedros: The Cloud Forest v. The Mine 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:09.760 Hey, Drilled listeners, I wanted to bring you this episode 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:15.280 of Damages, our new show, because it's about Ecuador and 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:19.599 dovetails with our season on the Chevron Ecuador case back 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:24.040 in season five. This episode gets into Ecuador's history as 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:26.920 a leader in the rights of nature movement. It was 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:30.720 the first country to bake rates of nature into its constitution. 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:34.760 That happened under Rafael Correa, right around the time that 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.479 things were starting to really shift around the Chevron Ecuador 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:42.559 case down there. The Constitutional Court in Ecuador just released 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.800 a ruling in late twenty twenty one that was pretty 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:50.040 groundbreaking and has really started to spark some interesting changes 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.120 in both climate law in general and rights of nature 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:55.520 across the board. We get into all of that and 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.080 more in this episode. I hope you enjoy it, and 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.000 please go and check out Damages. We're doing some really 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.800 exciting work over there, and I want you guys to 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.200 listen to it. If you're not already subscribed to our 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:10.640 newsletter or our Patreon, you can do that at either 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:15.720 Patreon dot com slash Drilled or Drilled podcast dot com. 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.720 In both cases, you get ad free and bonus episodes 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:23.240 delivered to your inbox. Plus weekly write ups on whatever 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.679 I'm reporting that week, so check that out. You can 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:30.000 also support us by leaving a reading or review wherever 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:34.040 you're listening to your podcasts. It actually really helps a lot, 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.680 so it's a great way to support us. Thanks for 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:40.280 listening and for supporting the show and all of our work, 0:01:40.800 --> 0:02:02.760 and I hope you enjoy this episode. Welcome back to Damages. 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:07.120 I'm Amy Westervelt. So far this season we've looked at 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:10.400 how rights of nature has worked in both tribal court 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.240 and district courts in the United States. 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:17.720 What would the law have to look like to correspond 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:20.760 to a state of affairs in which the river had rights? 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:23.079 The suit would have to be brought in the name 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:23.600 of the river. 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:25.200 The river would be the planet, not Jones. 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.919 But for most folks, if they've heard about rights of 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.920 nature at all, it's not because of how the idea 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:34.880 has played out in the US, but because of how 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:40.079 it took hold in South America, particularly in Ecuador Monica. 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.120 Firietinta mentioned this in our last episode. 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:46.800 You know, it is quite unique in the world. The 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:52.200 constitution in Ecuador has this acknowledgement that nature has rights, 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:56.280 something that doesn't exist in other constitutions. 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.880 In two thousand and eight, Ecuador became the first country 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.720 in the world to write rights of nature into its constitution. Today, 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.000 we're going to look at how that came about and 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.360 why we're just now starting to see rulings come out 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.760 of Ecuador that are shaping how the whole world understands 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:22.880 rights of nature. We're going to time travel a bit first, 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.800 all the way back to the nineteen seventies when the 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:29.000 oil industry first arrived in Ecuador. 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:40.360 Joye sa lugar A in Nagosto. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.400 This is Louis Yanza. He moved to the Oriente area 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.360 of the Ecuadorian Amazon, that's in the eastern part of 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.560 the country as a kid in the seventies. He says, 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:52.360 when he stepped off the bus in Lago Agrio, the 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.800 largest city in the area at the time, the streets 0:03:56.240 --> 0:04:00.720 were literally filled with oil, as in there was oil 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:08.000 running down the streets. He stepped onto a street of oils. 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.880 A Sosan in Yominama de. 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:16.200 Jansa says growing up he would see big black clouds 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:20.080 in the distance nuez neingras. He didn't know what caused them, 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.200 but he found out later it was the oil refineries. 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.680 In the area. Later he would see pits filled with 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.760 wastewater and oil in the jungle as well. All of that, 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:34.480 the oil streets, the black clouds, the waste pits, who 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:37.840 created them and whose responsibility it was to clean them 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:41.920 up became the focus of a massive lawsuit that started 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:46.600 in nineteen ninety three against the American oil company Texaco. 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:52.040 Whether you drive on many come back a medium sized 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:57.680 gar or a magnificent limousine, you can trust Texico to 0:04:57.720 --> 0:04:59.800 have the great gasolines exactly right. 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:08.279 That suit lasted through an acquisition Chevron acquired Texico in 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:13.520 two thousand, multiple trials and settlements and appeals in courts 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.560 in multiple countries. There are aspects of that case that 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:21.440 are still going on today. It's long and really really complicated. 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:23.839 I did a whole twelve part podcast about it on 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:26.719 my other show Drilled. But for our purposes today, it's 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:32.160 important to understand a few key things about that case. First, 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:37.000 that some indigenous communities in the Amazon were literally obliterated 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:41.600 by foreign oil companies in the seventies. Foreign companies started 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.960 an oil industry in Ecuador that was many, many times 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.120 more harmful and polluting than they would ever dare to 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:51.200 be back home. Then it's important to note that the 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.880 election of a new Ecuadorian president changed the course of 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.880 that case and the country's relationship to oil. And finally 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.800 that Chevron technically lost that case, but instead of paying 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:05.760 or cleaning up the oil pits, they took the lawyers 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.960 to court and halt the government of Ecuador in front 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:13.440 of an international arbitration tribunal for daring to let its 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:19.080 citizens sue Chevron. In a word, colonialism, or to put 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.960 a finer point on it, oil colonialism. Oil colonialism has 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:26.800 cast a black cloud over the economy and government of 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:31.840 Ecuador for fifty years. So imagine how exciting it was 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:35.719 for Ecuadorians in two thousand and six to have someone 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.560 running for president who promised to do something about it. 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:43.039 Remember this was during a time period when George W. 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.839 Bush was the President of the United States. 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:50.960 Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so were we. 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:54.880 They never stopped thinking about new ways to harm our 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:57.520 country and our people, and neither do we. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:02.440 And Latin America was taking a big swing to the left. 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.680 The forty six year old Morales won the presidency in 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:10.240 December with more popular support than any Bolivian president in decades. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.880 He's the latest in a string of left leaning leaders 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:17.120 to assume power in South America in what many see 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.400 as a backlash against US backed free market policies. 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:26.920 In Bolivia and Brazil, socialist presidents had just been elected, 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.040 and of course, in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez was the favorite 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:34.400 socialist boogeyman of the capitalist West. Ecuador was poised to 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.320 take a hard left too. When Chavez made international headlines 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:43.600 calling Bush the devil, Ecuador's socialist candidate, Rafael Goria said 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:49.000 that was an insult to the devil. Coorea made indigenous 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.640 rights a campaign promise, and he vowed to renegotiate the 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.160 country's contracts with foreign oil companies. That made him a 0:07:56.240 --> 0:08:00.320 huge threat to American corporate interests, but wildly popular with 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:05.640 the people of Ecuador. Correa's anti establishment campaign didn't mince words. 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.120 He called the Congress a sewer and vowed to overrun 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:14.280 the old Guard with a citizen revolution. He was elected 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.640 in two thousand and six, and just two years later 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.560 made good on his campaign promises. He amended the constitution 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:24.160 to include indigenous rights, a whole host of other sorts 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:29.120 of civil rights and yep, you guessed it. Rights of nature. 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.360 It was the first time any country in the world 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.040 had put rights of nature in its constitution. 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.719 Bersonalmente jobingo di Narelida. 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:42.480 This is Alberto Costa, an economist and the former Minister 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:45.160 of Energy and Mining for Ecuador. He says he spent 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:49.200 a lot of years believing that nature was a subordinate object, 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.560 a resource to be used for development or the economy, 0:08:52.800 --> 0:09:00.360 that it must be controlled by human beings. And then years, 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.320 he says, and his thinking changed. He came to realize 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.280 that his view of the world, a view that's still 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.160 shared by much of the rest of the world, was 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:19.480 completely wrong. Acosta went on to actually help write those 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.360 amendments to the Constitution in two thousand and eight, which 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:27.000 was a big deal both for Ecuador and for rights 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:29.959 of nature advocates all over the world who started to 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.400 look at Ecuador as a place to test out the 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:36.679 idea of using rights of nature to hold corporations accountable. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.440 In one of the very first cases, activists sued the 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.680 government on behalf of a river that was being impacted 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:51.840 by a developer and the river one Then the deep 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.000 Water Horizons Bill happened in the Gulf of Mexico. 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.319 The gusher unleashed in the Gulf of Mexico continue used 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.600 to spew crude oil. There are no reliable estimates of 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:06.040 how much oil is pouring into the gulf, but it 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:10.280 comes to many millions of gallons since the catastrophic blowout. 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:12.720 And some folks had the idea of filing a case 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:14.079 in Ecuador about it. 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:18.800 Environmentalist organizations from five countries file a complaint on November 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:22.960 twenty six against British Petroleum VP for the spill of 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.839 over five million oil burrows and the environmental damage linked 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.120 to that spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The complaint 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.160 was filed before an Ecuador's court because this is the 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:37.000 only country that recognizes nature as a subject and protects 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:38.679 its rights in its constitution. 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:46.080 If Ecuador's constitution protected mother nature, was that really just 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:50.800 limited to ecosystems within the country's borders. It was an 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:55.160 interesting test of Ecuador's rights of nature law, but ultimately unsuccessful. 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:59.120 The case was thrown out for lack of jurisdiction, and 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.480 then not much happened on rights of nature for a while, 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:07.120 no big cases but Correa. Yeah, he kept turning up 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:08.200 in the news. 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:13.760 Planter com promiso then no explotade cercas. 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:15.439 Petrolium. 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.240 The international press could not get enough of this plan 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:28.880 he had hatched to protect the Amazon, specifically Yasuni Park, 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.559 where an enormous oil reservoir had been found beneath an 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:37.200 exceptionally fragile part of the forest. Corea tried to sidestep 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:45.000 the oil curse. Instead of having to decide whether to 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.920 preserve the forest or get the oil money, Correa proposed 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:53.240 something along the lines of climate debt. Developed countries should 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:57.640 pay Ecuador not to extract that oil. For just three 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:01.720 point six billion dollars over thirty teen years, Ecuador would 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.400 agree to leave it in the ground, avoiding more than 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:08.600 four hundred and seventy three million tons of CO two emissions. 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:11.600 It also would have protected one of the most biodiverse 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.840 places on the planet. Five years later, though, Korea was 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:19.160 announcing a shockingly different plan to the country. 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:22.640 So Alassemble nal. 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:29.240 I asked the National Assembly a national interest to explore 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:33.480 for oil in Yasuni. But listen well, people of Ecuador, 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:39.840 especially my dear young people. Exploration will effect less than 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.280 one percent of Yasuni Park. 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:47.280 Jessuoni Developed Nations had only kicked in thirty million dollars 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:51.440 to preserve the Ecuadorian Amazon, and Korea's argument was that 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.720 he couldn't say no to the economic development the country 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:58.960 so desperately needed just to save a forest for a 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.280 lot of people. This officially marked the end of Korea's 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:06.400 commitments to indigenous communities and the environment. By this point 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:10.080 in his presidency, Korea had already survived a coup attempt 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:14.840 and various corruption scandals. Chevron had gone after him really 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:17.880 hard for supporting the case against it in Ecuador, and 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.000 he was coming to grips with the fact that his 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:25.800 country's economy had become entirely dependent on oil money. He 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:29.280 couldn't turn that off immediately and risk plunging the country 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:33.160 deeper into poverty. And he couldn't allow more drilling without 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:37.160 harming indigenous communities and the ecosystem. It's kind of like 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:40.439 the position a lot of countries are finding themselves in today. 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.760 So Korea went for a plan that made nobody happy, 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.160 just a little bit of drilling. He moved forward with 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.720 plans to drill in just one percent of Yesudy, which 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.920 he thought was a great compromise, but it disappointed both 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.840 environmentalists and indigenous leaders, and even the people who were 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.800 for oil drilling didn't get what they wanted. Over the years, 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.640 Kurea got kind of bitter about the whole thing. Are 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:08.000 we really going to put nature's rights over helping the poor? 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:08.720 He asked. 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:14.160 He complained about quote infantile environmentalism and people who just 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:18.120 couldn't accept trade offs. Between the coup attempt and the 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:22.200 various scandals plaguing his administration. From twenty ten until he 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:27.000 left office in twenty seventeen, Kuda's government was marked by instability, 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:32.120 and that included the courts too. His successor, President Lenin Moreno, 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:36.240 made it his goal to strengthen the country's institutions. In 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:40.880 twenty nineteen, he tasked a Council of Citizen Participation with 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:45.560 appointing nine new judges to the Constitutional Court. Those judges 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:49.160 announced that they would take on several rights of nature cases. 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:57.760 For the first time in years. 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:59.640 This particular court has prioritized rights of nature specifically, and 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:04.320 they I've selected a few cases to concentrate on so 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:08.480 that the parameters of rights of nature, how it is 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.480 applied in practical. 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.000 Ways, the scope of the law. 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:15.960 Is worked out. This is Melissa Troutman. She's a journalist 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.680 and co founder of the investigative news outlet Public Herald 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:23.760 in the United States. She made a documentary film about 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.480 rights of nature called Invisible Hand that came out in 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.400 twenty twenty, and she's been following the rights of nature 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.320 movement for several years. 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:36.360 And one of those cases before the Constitutional Court of 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:40.440 Ecuador is a case to protect Los Adro's Forest. 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:41.680 Reserved from mining. 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:48.400 It's a very, very ecologically diverse forest that will be 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:52.760 gone if concessions for mining put forth by the Ecuadorian 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:54.360 government will go through. 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.920 Losdros is a cloud forest that's a type of rain 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.800 forest with dense tree canopies and constant precipitation that looks 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.120 kind of like clouds. It's one of the most biodiverse 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:12.320 forests in the world and is home to several endangered species, 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:18.760 including the very adorable brown headed spider monkey. It's also 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.640 already listed as a protected forest in Ecuador, so a 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.600 lot of environmentalists in the country we're asking, if you 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:29.560 can mine in a protected forest, what does the protected 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:34.480 label even mean? It's important politically too. The Losros case 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.480 didn't just come before the court after new justices had 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.240 been put in place. It came before the Court during 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:46.040 a much more business friendly presidency. President Guillermo Lasso vowed 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:49.680 to expand mining and oil extraction in the country and 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.240 has so far done just that. Tossing mining permits in 0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:56.240 Los Adros could shut down mining in any of the 0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:00.160 country's protected forests, and it could put both Lasso and 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:04.440 various companies on notice about the court's intention to actually 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:09.040 enforce rights of nature. That story coming up after the break. 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:19.520 Are you looking for a country with naively low mining regulations, 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:24.520 zero red tape and I responsibly low taxes, Look no further, 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.480 introducing a fibulus once in a lifetime opportunity to open 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:33.240 your very own mind in the most biodiverse country on 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:38.520 the planet, and there is literally nowhere you can't mind. 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.879 This is from a parody ad that some environmental groups 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.920 made around the time that the Losedro's case was going 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:45.399 to court. 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.760 Los Cedros ready to mind, Sabu good to blow, John 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:51.240 tal for grabs. 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:54.919 The complaint in the lo Aro's case centers on a 0:17:55.160 --> 0:18:00.000 twenty seventeen policy change that allowed mining on six million 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:03.840 million acres in Ecuador, including more than half of Los Adros. 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.320 It was thought to be a quick move to replace 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:10.840 declining oil revenues with mining money. Lossros was originally given 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.440 protected for a status because it's home to so many 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:18.639 rare and endangered species, dozens of them, so environmentalists immediately 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:23.000 questioned the permits there. Environmental groups began working with indigenous 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.480 leaders in the area and filed their case invoking rights 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.480 of nature to block the mining permits in Los Adros. 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:33.280 In twenty nineteen, the provincial court agreed with the activists 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:37.440 mining Los Aedros was a clear rights of nature violation. 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.399 The mining companies appealed that decision and headed to the 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:45.359 constitutional court in twenty twenty, here's Alberto Costa again. 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:50.280 Lub deel Castle and Auviencia de los CROs so presentaron 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:54.399 persola scientificos, the scientificas they received as partes der mundo. 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.879 He says, scientists from all over the world testified to 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.199 defend the spider monkeys, the plant, the water, and it 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:10.679 was great, magnificent. Even Junta sajimos defendlas. We continue to 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:17.480 defend isolated situations, He says, this wonderful protected forest of Losdros, 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:21.639 But why not all the forests, Why not all the 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.639 forests and all the moors. Why not all the water 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:30.040 sources already for a cost of protecting entire ecosystems would 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:33.560 be more in keeping with the intention of rates of nature, 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:37.280 not just one case, one place at a time. But 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:41.680 there's that problem again of shoehorning this very different view 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:46.080 of nature into a Western court system. The courts in Ecuador, 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:49.439 like those in the US, work case by case, so 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:53.840 it's hard to make big shifts in philosophy. You can't 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:58.399 really say, forget specifics, let's litigate how we treat forests overall. 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.520 Although rights of nature cases still have to be litigated 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.000 one at a time, Los Cedros was seen as a 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.560 case that could set enough of a precedent to protect 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:17.440 lots of other forests. So scientists and lawyers from all 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:21.760 over the world zoomed in to testify before the Constitutional 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:24.879 Court in Ecuador on behalf of Los. 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:31.920 Cedros Representantes de Las or the Nisaciones Air Law Center, 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:37.920 Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, Center of Biological Diversity, 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:42.840 International Drivers, Great Lakes Environmental and Loss. 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:48.040 And then it was a waiting game until finally, in 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:58.280 December twenty twenty one. 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:58.800 La Corte Constitutions Delos. 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.800 Hello, this is Jane Goodul. Last week there was some 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:06.919 wonderful news for those of us who are fighting to 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:12.479 protect the natural world. The Ecuadorian Constitutional Court, in a 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:16.959 landmark ruling, agreed that the government should revoke the mining 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:21.639 permits that it had granted for exploration in the Las 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:26.960 Cidrus Protected Forest in order to uphold the rights of nature. 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:32.680 The Cloud forest. 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:37.840 One huge news the court not only rejected the mining 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:40.520 permits for those the there's it made some pretty broad 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:44.480 judgments in its ruling that will help protect other forests too. 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:48.720 I called up Constanza Prieto, the Latin America legal director 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:51.960 for Earth Law Center, to get some more details. 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:57.719 Well, we decide to intervene in Lossdros because it was 0:21:58.000 --> 0:21:59.240 such an important case. 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:02.280 Trieto is a expert on rates of nature and she 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:06.200 says the Lossro's ruling will impact not just future rates 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:09.240 of nature cases, but also how the government thinks through 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:13.960 permitting for things like mining and ohiel drilling, how rates 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:18.320 of nature might come into play earlier on in the process. 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:24.040 What the is very important because they talk about the forest, 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:27.800 but not only the first about also the university and 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:32.080 also about the water. They explain what means for the 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:35.840 authorities all these rules. It's even like a class of 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:40.399 what should mean for the authorities, also for the judge 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:45.640 and also for the legislative power, what means our rate 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:46.240 of nature? 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:50.600 This is really key. This ruling sets a precedent, and 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:54.440 the court used this opportunity to not just say yes 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:57.680 Los thero's wins, no mining there, but also to say, 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:00.919 this is how authority should think about rates of nature 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:04.719 in these situations, and this is how policymakers and the 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:06.080 courts should think of it. 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:09.800 So that is the main importance of the case. And 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:13.119 also because such an important subject mining. 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:17.399 Mining is a hot subject in Ecuador, in particular, since 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:20.480 that twenty seventeen law change that opened up millions of 0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:23.480 acres to mining. The government has granted permits for more 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:26.520 than seven million acres in Ecuador, and a lot of 0:23:26.560 --> 0:23:30.480 those acres are in protected forests. So the court's decision 0:23:30.600 --> 0:23:33.480 to throw out the mining permits in loss Thro's could 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:35.960 reverberate through the economy in a big way. 0:23:36.640 --> 0:23:41.200 That is a biggest statement to say, like no mining 0:23:41.240 --> 0:23:45.160 activities or similar to mine activities now on the future 0:23:45.240 --> 0:23:47.000 can be in this kind of force. 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:51.600 It's really it's a pretty sweeping ruling no mining activities 0:23:51.840 --> 0:23:55.000 or activities similar to mining can be done in this 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:58.919 kind of forest, But Preeto says it's not exactly the 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:02.119 blanket ruling in might seem to be. It's not saying 0:24:02.480 --> 0:24:05.200 no mining in protected for us ever period. 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:08.320 It's not clear. I think I suppose so well be 0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:11.560 cased by case, but I suppose a more fragile or 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:17.840 vo diverse ecosystem will not allow this kind of destructive mining. 0:24:18.240 --> 0:24:22.200 So at least in the most fragile and biodiverse ecosystems, 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:36.480 it seems pretty certain that mining won't be allowed. If 0:24:36.520 --> 0:24:39.959 Ecuadorian President gir Molasso had his way, the ruling wouldn't 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:44.480 impact anything outside of Los ae CROs. The businessman president 0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:49.080 has pinned his hopes for building Ecuador's economy on mining, 0:24:49.280 --> 0:24:52.600 and there's an interesting twist here. At least some of 0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:56.000 that mining will feed into the international supply chain for 0:24:56.160 --> 0:25:00.320 renewable energy and electric vehicles. In an interview with The 0:25:00.359 --> 0:25:04.359 Financial Times, Lasso said that Ecuador's deposits of copper and 0:25:04.480 --> 0:25:07.960 other valuable metals need to be mined to support the 0:25:08.000 --> 0:25:12.679 global energy transition away from fossil fuels. This is a 0:25:12.720 --> 0:25:16.520 super interesting problem facing the entire world at the moment. 0:25:17.200 --> 0:25:21.160 As we turn towards electrification as part of the solution 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:26.159 to climate change, how does that system rely on the 0:25:26.200 --> 0:25:30.240 same extract of processes that led to the climate crisis 0:25:30.320 --> 0:25:32.879 in the first place, and what can be done to 0:25:32.960 --> 0:25:37.920 address the impact of those processes. Lasso has also okayed 0:25:38.000 --> 0:25:41.960 a lot of oil development, and it's unclear just how 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:45.919 much of the country's planned mining is actually connected to 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:50.560 electrification or how committed to that energy transition the president 0:25:50.680 --> 0:25:54.040 actually is. But Lasso told the FT that he planned 0:25:54.160 --> 0:25:57.760 to try to win over public opinion by quote explaining 0:25:57.760 --> 0:26:03.160 what kind of mining this is, responsible, sustainable mining, and 0:26:03.200 --> 0:26:07.720 defending the greater interest of the majority of Ecuadorians above 0:26:07.800 --> 0:26:15.320 the political interests of indigenous leaders. Meanwhile, just a few 0:26:15.320 --> 0:26:19.719 weeks after the Lesdros decision, the Constitutional Court dealt Lasso 0:26:19.920 --> 0:26:24.240 another potential blow in the same round of constitutional amendments 0:26:24.240 --> 0:26:27.679 that added rights of nature to Ecuador's constitution back in 0:26:27.720 --> 0:26:30.600 two thousand and eight. Remember, the country also added various 0:26:30.600 --> 0:26:35.000 specific rights for indigenous communities. One of those rights was 0:26:35.040 --> 0:26:39.480 the right to free, prior and informed consultation around development 0:26:39.600 --> 0:26:44.320 or extraction projects, taking place in their lands. In February 0:26:44.440 --> 0:26:48.679 twenty twenty two, the court ruled that some indigenous communities' 0:26:48.760 --> 0:26:53.360 rights to this type of consultation had been violated by 0:26:53.480 --> 0:26:57.960 various oil projects. The court called for stronger protections to 0:26:58.000 --> 0:27:02.879 guarantee indigenous communities rights to decide over extractive projects in 0:27:02.920 --> 0:27:06.359 their territories. The one to two punch of Los Sedros 0:27:06.400 --> 0:27:09.520 and this indigenous rights ruling sends a clear signal to 0:27:09.600 --> 0:27:14.399 Lasso and to extractive industries. Ecuador's new court plans to 0:27:14.440 --> 0:27:20.359 take its constitution, including rights of nature and indigenous rights seriously. 0:27:28.840 --> 0:27:32.600 The tension between colonial governments and indigenous nations is something 0:27:32.600 --> 0:27:36.199 that often crops up in rights of nature cases, and 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:38.760