Poor countries urged to demand 'ecological debt' from rich nations
Poor countries urged to demand 'ecological debt' from rich nations
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
Friends of the Earth International is mobilizing support for developing countries with rich natural resources to demand compensation from developed countries and their companies that have exploited their natural resources for years.
Aurora Donoso of the Friends of the Earth, said on Monday that developed countries and their corporations owed a huge "ecological debt" to developing and poor countries where they exploited their natural resources.
Ecological debts of northern developed countries have been mounting since the Rio declaration in 1992, Donoso said.
"The overuse and overconsumption of natural resources on the part of developed countries had caused harm and poverty to third world countries," said Donoso, a member of Accoion Ecologica, Friends of the Earth Ecuador.
She said the process of extraction and exporting natural resources such as oil, mineral, forest, marine and genetic resources from third-world countries had destroyed the ecosystem and had affected the survival of the peoples of the Southern countries.
"The concept of ecological debt for us lies on the responsibility of Northern industrialized countries, their industries, overexploitation of natural resources, human labor, and looting of resources," Donoso said.
The looting, she said, had began during the colonial period around 300 to 500 years ago and had not stopped since.
"Friends of the Earth demanded the looting of natural resources be stopped immediately, and sanctions imposed on those responsible," she said.
Those that were responsible should fix any environmental damage that has been done. "The people whose lives were affected by environmental destruction must be compensated by giving them back their land and restore their resources of life. Give them back the possibility to live in a sustainable way," Donoso said.
Donoso said the establishment of Southern People's Ecological Debt Creditors Alliance in Prague in 2000 and the African People's Ecological Debt Creditors Alliance in Benin, Africa, in November 2001 had been able to raise awareness among people in those poor countries about the necessity of demanding compensation from developed countries.
These alliances comprise a number of non-governmental organizations including Friends of the Earth International dealing with ecological and debt issues. They have been monitoring the operations of giant mining, oil and gas companies in developing countries such as Texaco in Ecuador, Shell in Nigeria, Caltex in Indonesia and Occidental in Columbia.
Friend of the Earth International plans to launch an Asian People's Ecological Debt Creditors Alliance in Bali during the current fourth preparatory committee meeting for World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The campaign also aims to establish international recognition of ecological debt.
"We want third world countries to recognize this debt, but so far the only country which has recognized ecological debt and demanded reparation is Cuba," Donoso added.