El País | What is at stake is not only Ecuador’s Amazon. A just energy transition must begin from the principle of shared but differentiated responsibility.
Yasuni
Indigenous Groups Criticize Ecuador’s $47 Billion Oil Expansion Plan in Amazon
Associated Press | “The Amazon is not for sale. We will defend our territories because we have not been consulted – this is our home."
In Ecuador, Environmentalists Worry Noboa Is Unwinding Nation’s Green Reputation
Associated Press | “We are seeing a sweeping package of regressive reforms that are rolling back environmental protections, Indigenous rights guarantees, and threatening basic civil liberties like the freedom of speech and assembly,"
Connecting Frontline Struggles and Fenceline Communities of California’s Oil Addiction
Delegation of Amazonian Indigenous leaders to California builds solidarity and accountability over the state's consumption of Amazon crude
“California is complicit in violating our rights by continuing to consume crude that our courts and voters have said must stay in the ground."
California Is to Examine Its Amazon Oil Ties Following Pleas from Indigenous Leaders from Ecuador
Associated Press | “Being here with our brothers and sisters, with the local communities also fighting – in the end, we feel that the struggle is the same.”
Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Indigenous Amazonian Delegation Receives Honors in California Senate
“California is complicit in violating our rights by continuing to consume crude that our courts and voters have said must stay in the ground. We are calling on California to take action to phase out its imports of oil that has come at a high price for our forests, our peoples, and our climate.”
Drilling Toward Disaster
Amazon Crude and Ecuador’s Oil Gamble
The Amazon is rapidly becoming a new frontier for oil production. This coincides with the Amazon biome reaching an existential tipping point. Amazon crude from Ecuador is a major contributor to this dangerous cycle.
Built to Spill: Ecuador’s Pipeline Disaster and the Fight to Stop the Next One
Coastal communities in Ecuador are still reeling from a devastating oil spill on March 13, which dumped over 25,000 barrels of crude oil into rivers and protected areas in the northwestern province of Esmeraldas.
IACHR Condemns Ecuador for Violating Rights of Tagaeri-Taromenane People
Landmark ruling calls for concrete measures to guarantee their survival
“This judgment of the Inter-American Court is the result of many years of struggle and is a guarantee of the rights to territory for peoples in isolation, so that they can live without the threat of oil, mining, and other threats."
Ecuador: A Decisive Election for the Amazon
Amid rampant violence and the failure to implement the Yasuní referendum, Indigenous and frontline organizing will only intensify.
Yasuní: A Global Climate Victory at Risk
The people of Ecuador overwhelmingly voted to keep one of its largest oil reserves in the ground. It was a vote for hope, for the future, and for the protection of biodiversity and Indigenous rights.
Grounding in Our Collective Power: Victories for the Amazon from 2024
Through bold campaigns, strategic advocacy, and unwavering solidarity with our Indigenous and local community partners, we achieved groundbreaking victories in 2024.
¡Sí a la Vida! Yes to Yasuní!
The Waorani hold a historic summit to ensure oil stays in the ground as Ecuador misses deadline to decommission drilling in Yasuni
Ecuador’s citizens made history by voting to keep fossil fuels in the ground in Yasuní. But the government’s failure to implement the referendum sets a dangerous precedent.
Ecuador Starts Dismantling Yasuní National Park Oil Block Two Days Before Court Deadline
Associated Press | “The government is not meeting their judicial obligation to the court, they’re not fulfilling the mandate of the Ecuadorian people, and they’re not respecting the rights of the Waorani.”
Rainforest Reckoning: Almost a Year After Historic Yasuní Vote, Ecuador Has Done Little
The country's Indigenous peoples and environmental movement are mobilizing to hold the government to account
The 2023 vote was heralded as the first time that any county chose to leave significant oil reserves in the ground by popular referendum, with over 60% voting in favor.
Despite Victory in a Historic Referendum, Yasuní National Park Is Again at Risk
Ecuador's president announces plans to ignore the popular vote and continue drilling for oil in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, home to Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation
The government seeks to upend the will of voters and continue drilling in Yasuní under the pretense of funding the country’s escalating conflict with organized crime.
Solidarity, Advocacy, and Resistance in the Amazon and Beyond
This solidarity grantmaking is built upon a multi-decade track record as a trusted partner among Indigenous nations and local organizations and guided by the principles and cosmology of Indigenous peoples.
Achievements in 2023 Could Signify the Turning Point for the Amazon in 2024
As 2023 closes, it’s time to look back over the many inspiring achievements of the year. Hope and progress for the future of the Amazon and climate have been restored.
Seven Challenges for the New Ecuadorian Government
Ecuador’s powerful business class is in power yet again following the election of Daniel Noboa
We question whether he will prioritize the protection of nature and the rights of Indigenous peoples as he promised during his campaign or – more likely – carry on with the extractivist agenda of prior administrations and continue to disregard Indigenous rights.
Yasuní Victory Shows Us the Way to End Amazon Crude
In a historic vote, Ecuadorians have shown the world what true climate leadership looks like. Their vote is a step toward a fossil fuel-free future that protects biodiversity and the rights of isolated Indigenous peoples.
Ecuadorians Reject Oil Drilling in the Amazon, Ending Operations in a Protected Area
Associated Press | “Ecuadorians have come together for this cause to provide a life opportunity for our Indigenous brothers and sisters and also to show the entire world, amidst these challenging times of climate change, that we stand in support of the rainforest.”
Victory for Yasuní and the Amazon! Ecuadorians Choose a Future Without Fossil Fuels
“Ecuadorians have sent a definitive message to the world: the Amazon, Indigenous rights, biodiversity, and our climate are more important than oil."
Amazon’s Yasuní Referendum: A “Yes” for Life and a Future Without Fossil Fuels
"As Ecuadorians, we have the historic opportunity to redefine Yasuní as a territory of life and give a clear transforming mandate to governments and the world."
Ecuador Makes History: Vote to Keep the Oil in the Ground in Yasuní Underway
Watch this video update from our Ecuador legal advisor, Nathaly Yepez, about the exciting referendum
The protection of Yasuní is crucial: It is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, and any invasions by oil and extractive activity could further destabilize our global climate and destroy the territory of the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples.
How We’re Ending Amazon Crude in 2023!
Indigenous movements are gaining political, judicial, and legislative victories setting the stage for keeping oil in the ground this year
There are several reasons to be optimistic about building momentum to further restrict plans to expand oil extraction in its Amazon and keep fossil fuels permanently in the ground, and Ecuador is a great example.
First-Ever Regional Court Case Involving Rights of Uncontacted Peoples Awaits Verdict
The Inter-American Court of Human rights is evaluating the first-ever case concerning the rights of Indigenous communities in voluntary isolation
Mongabay | In the case Tagaeri & Taromenane Indigenous people vs the Ecuadorian state, lawyers representing the communities in voluntary isolation say the Ecuadorian state has failed to protect these populations and propelled the extractive industry in the area, putting pressure on the rainforest and increasing conflict between local communities.
A People’s Referendum Could Stop Drilling in Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park
Defenders of Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon, one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet, have two new reasons to hope that oil drilling in the region could be imminently curtailed.
Amazon Watch Statement: Highest Ecuadorian Court Finds Decree 751 Unconstitutional, Would Have Allowed Oil Drilling in Area Protected for Isolated Peoples
Quito, Ecuador – In a reprieve for Indigenous peoples living in isolation inside of Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park, the country’s top court declared Decree 751 unconstitutional, permanently prohibiting drilling in the buffer zone.
Indigenous Communities Confront Ecuadorian Government and International Financiers at Oil and Energy Conference
Promises of environmental responsibility ring hollow as recent major spill turns rainforest and rivers black with crude
Quito, Ecuador – Today the leaders of Ecuador’s Indigenous movement and the regional pan-Amazon Indigenous organization mobilized outside Ecuador’s Annual Conference for Oil and Energy to demand justice for communities affected by the recent disastrous Amazon oil spill and to denounce plans for new drilling.
