The Amazon is a no-go zone for oil drilling
The western Amazon is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. This vital rainforest is under threat from previous and ongoing oil extraction – which pollutes rivers, harms wildlife and human health, and opens the forest to roads, deforestation, and further exploitation.
Amazon Watch works in close partnership with Indigenous peoples to stop oil extraction at the source and reduce global demand for Amazon oil. Together, we are building pressure on governments, corporations, and consumers to phase out Amazon crude and protect the rainforest – before it’s too late.
Campaign goals
- Oil companies cancel their drilling plans in the Amazon
- Financiers and insurers withdraw support for Amazon oil projects
- The State of California – the largest importer of Amazon crude – ends imports altogether
- Indigenous communities in Ecuador and Peru obtain justice for the devastating impacts oil operations in their territories
Recent highlights
- Safeguarding the Ecuadorian Amazon: Working with Indigenous partners to block the government’s plans to open 14 oil blocks across 2.3 million roadless hectares in southern Ecuador, while amplifying calls for the protection of Yasuní National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.
- Demanding justice for oil-impacted communities in northern Peru: Amplifying the demands of the Achuar, Chapra, and Wampis peoples that state oil company Petroperú both halt plans to exploit oil block 64 and remediate hundreds of toxic, unaddressed oil spills in their ancestral territories.
- Resisting oil extraction in Colombia: Accompanying Indigenous and campesino communities in the Putumayo region who oppose oil companies in their territories due to environmental harm and human rights violations.
- Urging California to stop importing Amazon crude: Following extensive meetings with California officials, we accompanied a delegation of Ecuadorian Indigenous leaders to the State Capitol, which led to the California State Senate passing a resolution to assess its Amazon crude imports and pursue a phase-out.
Latest campaign news and updates
The Rainforest Spoke. Amazonian Legislators Listened.
The Parliamentarians for a Fossil-Free Amazon call for a moratorium on new oil and mining projects – starting with Indigenous territories.
In the face of inaction and paralysis of countries in making significant progress to address the climate crisis and its principal driver – fossil fuels – a worldwide coalition of legislative leaders has taken matters into their own hands, demonstrating what true climate leadership can look like.
Ecuador and Oil: A Challenge for Democracy and the Amazon
Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, more than 930,000 square kilometers have been opened for oil and gas exploration in Latin America and the Caribbean, an area larger than Venezuela
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.
Global Outcry and Indigenous Opposition Challenge Ecuador’s Amazon Oil Agenda
“Ecuador’s new oil auction is a direct threat to our territories. After 60 years of extraction, we’ve seen only death and destruction, not development.”
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."
California Lawmakers Seek to Curb Oil Imports from Amazon
Associated Press | “Consuming oil from the Amazon is incompatible with climate leadership. As the world’s fourth-largest economy, California is sending a powerful market signal by examining its crude footprint and role in Amazon destruction.”
California Senate Passes SR 51, Responding to Indigenous Call to End Amazon Crude Imports
“This is the first step in ending California’s addiction to Amazon crude. Consuming oil from the Amazon is incompatible with climate leadership."
Indigenous Groups Demand Action from South American Leaders at Amazon Summit
Associated Press | “There is no solution to any of the threats the Amazon is facing without its communities.”
Indigenous Nations of Ecuador and Peru Reject Cross-Border Oil Deal
“This deal has no consent, no legitimacy, and will face legal and social resistance every step of the way.”
A Historic Alliance for the Amazon
“This deal has no consent, no legitimacy, and will face legal and social resistance every step of the way.”
This united front builds on a track record of resistance: in more than 25 years, no new oil well has been drilled in Ecuador’s southeastern Amazon.
