nature rights

Climate Change and Transitions Towards Living Well in South America

Climate Change and Transitions Towards Living Well in South America

A review of some of the central ideas being discussed in a process of energy transitions towards Good Living for the Andean regions and the neighbouring Amazonian areas. It is an exercise in proposing post-carbon and post-extractivist societies based on sensibilities that seek to get out of the trap of conventional ideas of development, and […]

Utopia or reality: can South America lead a fossil-free future?

Utopia or reality: can South America lead a fossil-free future?

Proponents of the South American philosophy of Buen Vivir have proposed an action plan for moving towards a more sustainable, more balanced economy – report by Oliver Balch, The Guardina, 11 February 2015. Business, as a rule, doesn’t do utopia. The reason is simple: as the French author and philosopher Albert Camus put it, “utopia […]

Transitions to post-extractivism: directions, options, areas of action

Transitions to post-extractivism: directions, options, areas of action

Extractivisms are one of the main features in dominant development strategies in Latin America. Eduardo Gudynas (CLAES), presents the “post-extractivist” proposals that are being discussed in the region. Is an exploration in what is called “transitions” to another development, or “transitions to Buen Vivir.” Chapter in the book Beyond Development. Alternative visions from Latin America, […]

Development Alternatives in Bolivia: The Impulse, the Resistance, and the Restoration

Development Alternatives in Bolivia: The Impulse, the Resistance, and the Restoration

by Eduardo Gudynas – When Evo Morales’s Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) gained control of Bolivia’s government, it unleashed expectations of structural changes on several fronts, from the reform of the state to a new constitution, from new economic regulations to the direct political participation of indigenous and campesino organizations. The notable initial changes and the […]

Ecuador: The Rights Of Nature Following The End Of The Petroleum Moratorium In Amazonia

Ecuador: The Rights Of Nature Following The End Of The Petroleum Moratorium In Amazonia

by Eduardo Gudynas – One of the most original environmental initiatives in recent years, coming from Ecuador, sought to leave oil in the ground to preserve the Amazonia and its indigenous peoples. It was an idea emerging from civil society that took on concrete form in 2007, under the first government of Rafael Correa, and […]

Leaving the Oil in the Ground: Yasuni’s initiative

Leaving the Oil in the Ground: Yasuni’s initiative

The government of Ecuador has presented a novel proposal to not exploit the oil reserves of the Yasuní National Park. The economic benefits of exporting crude oil are limited compared to the social, economic, and environmental costs of extracting oil from the Amazon, with its enormous ecological and cultural diversity. The report Leaving the Oil […]