Oil or Trees? Germany Takes Lead in Saving Ecuador’s Rainforest

Yasuni National Park protects the Ecuador’s rainforest and is one of the most bio-diverse places on earth. Ecuador’s largest known oil reserves, worth an estimated $6 billion, also happen to lie underneath the park. Oil is a key product for Ecuador, producing around a third of the nation’s income. The Ecuadorian government has pledged to leave the oil untapped if the international community promises to compensate the country for lost income. Germany has taken an interest in the initiative, and sources say it may be willing to contribute as much as $50 million to the effort, though the government said it had made no promises. If the effort proves successful it could prevent an estimated 410 million tons of carbon dioxide from being potentially emitted into the atmosphere. While such a reduction in potential emissions is an encouraging development, it is relatively small compared with the 29 billion tons of annual emissions caused by human activities estimated by the Energy Information Administration. – YaleGlobal