Amazon Watch

Last updated
Amazon Watch
Founded1996
Type Non-governmental organization
Focus Environmentalism
Indigenous rights
Location
Area served
Amazon Basin
Key people
 Leila Salazar-Lopez, executive director
Revenue
US$ 1,485,169 (2012)
Website amazonwatch.org

Amazon Watch is a nonprofit organization [1] founded in 1996, and based in Oakland, California, it works to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. It partners with indigenous and environmental organizations in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Brazil in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon's ecological systems.

Contents

Campaigns

In 1964, the Texaco Petroleum Company, in partnership with Gulf Oil, began exploring for oil in Northeast Ecuador. In 1974, the Government of the Republic of Ecuador, acting through the state-owned oil agency Petroecuador, obtained a 25% interest. Two years later, Petroecuador acquired Gulf Oil's interest and became a 62.5% owner of the Lago Agrio oil field. By 1993, Petroecuador had also acquired Texaco's interest. After Texaco completed environmental remediation, the Government of Ecuador inspected and certified the work and "absolved, liberated and forever freed" Texaco Petroleum from "any claim or litigation by the Government of Ecuador." [2] [3] Nevertheless, in November 1993, a group of Ecuadorians filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of 30,000 inhabitants of the Oriente region, alleging that Texaco polluted the rainforests. After extensive litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed in Aguinda v. Texaco an earlier court's dismissal on the basis of "forum non conveniens." [2] Thus, legal proceedings were started in Ecuador in 2003. [4]

Amazon Watch supports the Ecuadorian plaintiffs by publishing a press kit alleging that Chevron (corporate successor to Texaco) should be held accountable for the dumping of 18 billion US gallons (68,000,000 m3) of toxic wastewater into a region of Ecuador's Amazon rainforest inhabited by more than 30,000 people – purported to be one of the largest oil-related contaminations ever, far exceeding that of the Exxon Valdez disaster. [5] [6] In 2011, a decision in Ecuador ordered Chevron to pay $9.5 billion. Ecuador's Supreme Court in 2013 affirmed the trial court judgment in a 222-page decision that documented the extensive and life-threatening levels of oil pollution at dozens of former Chevron well sites in the jungle. In all, eight appellate judges in Ecuador reviewed the evidence against Chevron and affirmed the judgment, as well as dismissing Chevron's allegation of fraud. When Chevron refused to comply with the $9.5 billion judgment against it for contamination in the Lago Agrio oil field, the plaintiffs' lead attorney, Steven R. Donziger, attempted to collect the judgment in Brazil, Argentina, and Canada. [7] Chevron then filed suit in the United States, [8] and relying on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act), alleged that plaintiffs' attorneys in the Lago Agrio litigation had engaged in extortion and fraud by paying almost US$300,000 in bribes to obtain the 2011 court verdict in Ecuador. [9] On 4 March 2014, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan concluded that "the course of justice was perverted" and enjoined Donziger from instituting any enforcement proceedings in the United States. [10] [11] Donziger has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. [12] [13]

Amazon Watch's web page describes its activities in Ecuador as going "beyond supporting indigenous efforts to keep their territories intact and win greater rights guarantees, Amazon Watch is also promoting visionary alternatives that could protect the Amazonian environment and local communities. The Yasuni ITT initiative is one such initiative for which we have actively campaigned. The proposal seeks to keep some 900 million barrels of heavy crude that lies underneath Yasuni National Park permanently in the ground in exchange for half of the forgone oil revenues. If done right, the proposal is an important first step towards keeping oil reserves in culturally sensitive and fragile ecosystems in Ecuador and beyond". [14]

Additionally, Amazon Watch is a plaintiff in a case against the US oil company Occidental for its damage to the Peruvian rainforest. [15] The District Court initially granted Occidental's motion to dismiss without ruling on whether Amazon Watch had standing to sue. On appeal, the 9th Circuit Court overturned the dismissal [16] and the Supreme Court declined review. [17] Amazon Watch also supported the Achuar indigenous people in opposing oil exploration on their lands by the Canadian oil company Talisman and the Argentinian company Pluspetrol. [18] Moreover, Amazon Watch supports a school that trains indigenous leaders how to defend their rights against oil and mining companies.

In Brazil, the Brazilian government is building the world's third-largest hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River, one of the Amazon's major tributaries. The Belo Monte dam complex would divert 80 percent of the Xingu River's flow, devastating an area of over 1,500 square kilometers of rainforest, and resulting in the forced displacement of up to 40,000 people. With the people of the Xingu and a network of Brazilian and international NGOs, Amazon Watch is working to document and publicize the dam's drastic impacts on local and indigenous populations.

Amazon Watch reports that the current rate of deforestation threatens to push the Amazon past a tipping point from which it cannot recover. Reports say that in the last 30 years, 20 percent of the Amazon has been deforested and another 20 percent degraded – all fueled by clearing land for agriculture and large-scale industrial projects such as oil and gas pipelines, dams and roads.

In 2014 Amazon Watch set up Amazon Watch Sweden as an independent nonprofit organization in order to increase fundraising efforts as well as increase advocacy pressure in Europe. [19]

In September 2016 Amazon Watch released a report which concludes that imports of crude oil by the US are driving rainforest destruction in the Amazon and releasing significant greenhouse gases. [20] [21]

On 6 February 2020, the environmental organization Mobilize Earth debuted Guardians of Life, the first of twelve short films that highlight the most pressing issues facing humanity and the natural world. Funds raised by the project will go to Amazon Watch and Extinction Rebellion. [22] Dávid Szőke and Sándor Kiss in Film International expressed criticism of Extinction Rebellion's 2019 short film Extinction and Guardians of Life, saying that "It is no doubt that film is one of the most meaningful ways of facilitating changes in our world. While Extinction and Guardians of Life declare “nonviolent open rebellion” and the urge to action for the survival of our natural world, the divergence between their stated ideals and their disruptive tactics in shaping public understanding of climate-related issues point toward starkly opposite directions. Despite their alleged advocacy of environmental issues, the involvement of such movie stars as Emma Thompson or Joaquin Phoenix redirects attention to their celebrity status, eclipsing the focus on the ecological solutions they should represent. Thus, these films can be viewed as nothing more than glossy facades, effectively disguising the radical environmental actions of XR activists under a more inclusive, media-friendly veneer." [23]

Related Research Articles

Texaco, Inc. is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company until its refining operations merged into Chevron, at which time most of its station franchises were divested to Shell plc through its American division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevron Corporation</span> American multinational energy corporation

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California, it is headquartered in San Ramon, California, and active in more than 180 countries. Within oil and gas, Chevron is vertically integrated and is involved in hydrocarbon exploration, production, refining, marketing and transport, chemicals manufacturing and sales, and power generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainforest Action Network</span> Environmental organization

Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, United States. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, and first gained national prominence with a grassroots organizing campaign that in 1987 succeeded in convincing Burger King to cancel $31 million worth of destructive Central American rainforest beef contracts. Protecting forests and challenging corporate power has remained a key focus of RAN’s campaigns since, and has led RAN into campaigns that have led to transformative policy changes across home building, wood purchasing and supplying, automobile, fashion, paper and banking industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nueva Loja</span> City in Sucumbíos, Ecuador

Nueva Loja, also known as Lago Agrio, is the capital of the province of Sucumbíos in Ecuador. It was founded in the 1960s as a base camp of Texaco. The official population as of the 2022 census is 55,627.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cofán people</span> Indigenous people native to Ecuador and Colombia

The Cofan people are an indigenous people native to Sucumbíos Province northeast Ecuador and to southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguarico River. Their total population is now only about 1,500 to 2,100 people, down from approximately 15,000 in the mid-16th century, when the Spanish crushed their ancient civilization, of which there are still some archeological remains. They speak the Cofán language or A'ingae. The ancestral land, community health and social cohesion of Cofan communities in Ecuador has been severely damaged by several decades of oil drilling. However, reorganization, campaigning for land rights, and direct action against encroaching oil installations have provided a modicum of stability. Major settlements include Sinangué, Dovuno, Dureno and Zábalo, the latter of which has retained a much more extensive land base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petroecuador</span> National petroleum company of Ecuador

EP Petroecuador is the national oil company of Ecuador. Ecuador who is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and, although it is the smallest member, the country produced 531,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2019. The oil corporation is a significant part of the Ecuadorian economy. The petroleum industry has expanded to the production of refined commodities such as gasoline, liquefied petroleum, and jet fuel. The government of Ecuador is highly dependent on the revenues from the energy sector to support its budget and finance state projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainforest Foundation Fund</span>

The Rainforest Foundation Fund is a charitable foundation founded in 1987 and dedicated to drawing attention to rainforests and defending the rights of indigenous peoples living there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pablo Fajardo</span> Ecuadorian lawyer and activist

Pablo Fajardo Mendoza is an Ecuadorian lawyer and activist. He is the lawyer that has been leading the litigation against Chevron Corporation related to the environmental disaster he alleged was caused by the oil operations of Texaco in the Lago Agrio oil field between 1964 and 1990. In this process, Fajardo represented the over 30,000 local inhabitants affected by the spill of crude oil and toxic waste. Chevron, which instead blames Petroecuador and has not paid the judgement, has had repeated success in arguing against it. The judgement has been validated by further Ecuadorian courts and the Supreme Court of Canada but it has been declared fraudulently obtained by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and an arbitration court in The Hague.

The Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area near the city of Nueva Loja in the province of Sucumbíos, Ecuador. It is located in the Western Oriente Basin. The site's hydrocarbon-bearing formations are the Cretaceous Napo and Hollin formations. Oil was discovered in the area in 1960s. The Lago Agrio field is known internationally for the serious ecological problems that oil development has created there, including water pollution, soil contamination, deforestation and cultural upheaval. Located in Cofan territory near the Colombian border, it is one of twelve production areas that developed when Ecuador began to export petroleum.

Luis Yanza is an environmental activist from Ecuador, of Cofán descent. He serves as president of the Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia, an NGO representing the interests of the campesinos and indigenous peoples in Ecuador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis A. Kaplan</span> American judge (born 1944)

Lewis A. Kaplan is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a senior U.S. district judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was the presiding judge in a number of cases involving high-profile defendants, including E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump, Virginia Giuffre v. Prince Andrew,United States v. Bankman-Fried, and trials of Al Qaeda terrorists such as Ahmed Ghailani.

<i>Crude</i> (2009 film) 2009 American film

Crude is a 2009 American documentary film directed and produced by Joe Berlinger. It follows a two-year portion of an ongoing class action lawsuit against the Chevron Corporation in Ecuador.

The Amazon Defense Coalition is an Ecuadorian non-governmental organization created on May 16, 1994, and approved by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Social Welfare on June 4, 1998, under ministerial reference #535. It is led by the environmental and human rights activist Luis Yanza.

The Yasuní-ITT Initiative was a project that attempted to keep over a billion barrels of oil in the ground under the Yasuni National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The initiative was launched in 2007 by Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa and offered a perpetual suspension of oil extraction from the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini oil field (ITT) in return for $3.6 billion from the international community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Donziger</span> American lawyer, human rights activist (born 1961)

Steven Robert Donziger is an American attorney known for his legal battles with Chevron, particularly Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. and other cases in which he represented over 30,000 farmers and indigenous people who suffered environmental damage and health problems caused by oil drilling in the Lago Agrio oil field of Ecuador. The Ecuadorian court awarded the plaintiffs $9.5 billion in damages, which led Chevron to withdraw its assets from Ecuador and launch legal action against Donziger in the US. In 2011, Chevron filed a RICO (anti-corruption) suit against Donziger in New York City. The case was heard by US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who determined that the ruling of the Ecuadorian court could not be enforced in the US because it was procured by fraud, bribery, and racketeering activities. As a result of this case, Donziger was disbarred from practicing law in New York in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in Ecuador</span> Institutional corruption in the country

Corruption in Ecuador is a serious problem. In 2014, the U.S. Department of State cited Ecuador's corruption as a key human-rights problem. According to Freedom House, "Ecuador has long been racked by corruption", and the weak judicial oversight and investigative resources perpetuate a culture of impunity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoë Tryon</span>

The Honourable Zoë Elizabeth Tryon is the eldest child and daughter of Anthony Tryon, 3rd Baron Tryon, and Dale Tryon, Baroness Tryon. She is most notable for her work as an "eco-aristocratic" ambassador for Amazon Watch, the Achuar and the other indigenous peoples of Ecuadorian Amazon, particularly fundraising, she has also promoted and arranged 'big name' tours for celebrities, journalists, and others to support the cause of locally indigenous peoples, needing to clean up, or resist the toxic waste being left and ecological damage being done by 'big oil' companies drilling and seeking to continue to drill the Amazon rainforests of Ecuador.

Nemonte Nenquimo is an Indigenous activist and member of the Waorani Nation from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador. She is the first female president of the Waorani of Pastaza (CONCONAWEP) and co-founder of the Indigenous-led nonprofit organization Ceibo Alliance. In 2020, she was named in the Time 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, the only Indigenous woman on the list and the second Ecuadorian to ever be named in its history. In recognition of her work, in 2020 the United Nations Environment Programme gave her the "Champions of the Earth" award in the category Inspiration and Action.

Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. was a class-action lawsuit against Texaco Petroleum. It was filed in 1993 by American human rights lawyer Steven Donziger on behalf of indigenous collectives in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The lawsuit sought compensation for "alleged environmental and personal injuries arising out of Texaco's oil exploration and extraction operations in the Oriente region between 1964 and 1992." Legal proceedings followed in courts in Ecuador and the United States for about a decade. The case was dismissed on May 30, 2001, on grounds of forum non conveniens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Chevron</span> Overview of controversies involving Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation has been one of the most widely-criticized companies in the world, mostly stemming from its activities and involving climate change. Chevron's most widely-known scandal involves Texaco's activities in the Lago Agrio oil field, which Chevron is deemed responsible for due to its acquisition of Texaco in 2001. Chevron has been most widely criticized for its handling of litigation against it filed by residents of the Lago Agrio region, which included what activists see as the "jailing" of Lago Agrio lawyer Steven Donziger.

References

  1. ↑ "Amazon Watch | Protecting the rainforest and our climate in solidarity with Indigenous peoples".
  2. 1 2 "Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., Docket Nos. 01-7756L, 01-7758C, decided August 16, 2002". Findlaw. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  3. ↑ "Judge Kaplan On Chevron: American Tort Law Is Not 'Robin Hood Justice'". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  4. ↑ "Texaco/Chevron lawsuits (re Ecuador) | Business & Human Rights Resource Centre". business-humanrights.org. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  5. ↑ http://www.chevrontoxico.com and www.texacotoxico.org/eng
  6. ↑ "Amazon Watch - Press Kit for Landmark Legal Case, Aguinda v. ChevronTexaco; "Detailed Background", page 3". Amazon Watch. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  7. ↑ Woodin, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP-Cheryl M.; Chen, Jonathan (26 February 2014). "Yaiguaje v. Chevron Corporation: enforcing an Ecuadorian judgment against a U.S. company in Ontario | Lexology" . Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  8. ↑ Snyder, Paul Hastings LLP-Rachel (7 April 2014). "Chevron v. Donziger: an enforcement action drama | Lexology" . Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  9. ↑ "US judge annuls Ecuador oil ruling against Chevron - BBC News". BBC News. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  10. ↑ Kaplan, Lewis (2014-03-04). "Chevron Corporation v. Donziger et al". Justicia. U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  11. ↑ Jones, Ashby (2014-03-04). "Highlights from the Chevron/Donziger Opinion". WSJ Blogs - Law Blog. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  12. ↑ "Court Hears Appeal In $9 Billion Chevron Ecuador Debacle". U.S. Second Circuit. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  13. ↑ "Chevron V. Donziger: The Epic Battle For The Rule Of Law Hits The Second Circuit". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  14. ↑ "Amazon Watch - Ecuador". Amazon Watch. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  15. ↑ "EarthRights International - New Report Exposes Occidental Petroleum's Legacy of Harm in the Peruvian Amazon". Archived from the original on 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  16. ↑ Cicero, Rita Ann (2013-04-30). "Peruvian Indians can pursue Amazon pollution suit in U.S. court". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2016-01-19.[ permanent dead link ]
  17. ↑ "Occidental Petroleum Corporation v. Carijano". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  18. ↑ "Pluspetrol". www.pluspetrol.net.
  19. ↑ "Amazon Watch Sverige - Historik". Amazon Watch Sverige (in Swedish). Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  20. ↑ Milman, Oliver (28 September 2016). "US drives rainforest destruction by importing Amazon oil, study finds". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  21. ↑ Zuckerman, Adam; Koenig, Kevin (September 2016). From well to wheel: the social, environmental, and climate costs of Amazon crude (PDF). Oakland, CA, USA: Amazon Watch. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  22. ↑ Green, Matthew (6 February 2020). "'Joker' star Phoenix takes aim at climate apathy with film about dying Earth". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  23. ↑ Szőke, Dávid; Kiss, Sándor (February 18, 2024). "Environmental Action in Opposite Directions: Extinction (2019) and Guardians of Life (2020)". Film International. Archived from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.

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