Ecuador wants billions to not drill in biosphere reserve

ENERGY TECH

China plans green rules for its overseas investors: report
China has prepared a draft of mandatory environmental measures for companies investing overseas, state media reported Friday. The new rules, reported by the official China Daily, come as a steep increase in Chinese investments abroad has triggered a heightened focus on the effect these will have on the environment. The regulations could also rein in a new trend that sees some Chinese companies relocate their polluting operations to countries with more relaxed environmental regimes, the newspaper said. While big state-owned enterprises generally observe environmental rules, smaller companies are more likely to cut corners, it said. The paper did not provide details about the rules, prepared by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Commerce. China's overseas investments have risen rapidly in recent years, from 2.5 billion dollars in 2002 to 40.7 billion dollars in 2008.

by Staff Writers
Quito (AFP) May 30, 2009
President Rafael Correa on Saturday said that he wants the world to pay Ecuador some 5.2 billion dollars in exchange for not drilling for oil in the Yasuni National Park, a UNESCO world biosphere reserve.

Until now, the government had asked for 350 million dollars a year for not drilling in Yasuni, where there are some 920,000 barrels of untapped crude.

The figure is half of the profits expected from extracting the oil.

However Correa on Saturday changed gears, saying that he wants Ecuador to receive 5.2 billion dollars instead -- taking into consideration the pollution that would be avoided.

According to Correa, the international community should compensate Ecuador for "prevented contamination," maintaining biodiversity and fighting poverty in the area.

"Calculating the tonnes of carbon that we will avoid sending into the atmosphere, because we are not going to drill for oil in Yasuni, we consider that ... we could or should receive close to 5.195 billion dollars," he said.

The oil deposits, located in the Yasuni Biosphere Reserve and National Park, have presented a dilemma for the Correa administration, which on one hand advocates strong ecological policies, but on the other depends on revenue from oil sales and is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Yasuni is located 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Quito and is 950,000 hectares (2.3 million acres) large.

Ecuador in 2008 produced on average 506,000 barrels a day.

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ENERGY TECH

Manila defies court, allows oil depots to stay
Manila (AFP) May 28, 2009
Manila's city council Thursday passed a law that officials said will allow oil companies to keep their depots in the city, defying a court order to relocate them on safety and environmental grounds. Mayor Alfredo Lim signed the ordinance reclassifying the 36-hectare (89-acre) riverside Pandacan section as an industrial zone, amending one by the previous city council that classified the area ... read more

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