Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
support from their international partners negotiated a nearly $17 million
environmental fund with a multinational oil consortium between 2002
and 2004 (Widener 2007a). If the Ecuadorian NGOs utilize this experi-
ence, they could pressure Chinese companies operating in Ecuador to
commit to conservation initiatives and environmental research programs,
as well as instruct Chinese NGOs to negotiate for similar agreements
as well.
As in the Ecuadorian case, Latin American conservation NGOs have
had greater experience in meeting with the oil industry, than Chinese
oil companies have had in dealing with NGOs. Such a discrepancy
could be promising for conservation initiatives. If Latin America's NGOs
are capable of applying their Northern experiences to non-Northern
oil entities, then they could potentially demand and advance higher
standards from a company with limited environmental confi dence and
experience.
In spite of these important contributions, Northern conservation
NGOs have been criticized by environmental activists for adopting cor-
porate-friendly, malleable environmental demands and for collaborating
with industry partners for conservation projects at the expense of affected
communities.
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EJ Advocacy Networks
In contrast to the conservation networks, North-South community-
centric networks have mobilized as well to challenge the disproportion-
ate power and direct impacts of the oil industry's practices.
Community-centric EJ struggles have been particularly demanding in
Latin America (Carruthers 2008). For instance, Ecuadorian communities
with the support of American advocacy networks have waged a lawsuit
against Texaco, today Chevron Corporation, since 1993 for the inade-
quate disposal of oil wastewater and subsequent environmental damages
and health impacts (Widener 2007b). In another example, activists from
Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Mexico held a panel at the 2009
World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil, to raise awareness of their efforts
to challenge the petroleum, hydroelectric power, and biofuel practices of
Brazilian transnationals in the region.
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Even though the panel was spon-
sored by Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, a German-based foundation for
political education, this panel demonstrates an increasingly empowered
Southern network that is beginning to contest the impacts of Southern-
to-Southern extractive practices, not just Northern practices with the
support of Northern advocates.
