Monitoring environnemental, Santé, Société et Pétrole en Equateur

Principal Investigator : Sylvia Becerra (GET)

Participants : M. Saqalli ; Ch. Kephaliacos (LEREPS) ; Phd student.

Objectives : to analyze the efficiency of political responses to environmental contamination by identifying vulnerabilities and political-institutional capacity

Methods : interviews, analysis of legal and administrative documentation, observation

Deliverables : Report on the effectiveness of environmental policies by coupling sociological surveys & simulation results to highlight political indicators of vulnerability/capacity; scientifc publication; PhD thesis

Risks : Access to communities; we will call up the institutional partners network and key-persons reached during exploratory surveys to facilitate field access to actors.

The regulation of industrial activities has become a central issue of public policies in Ecuador; Rafaël Correa’s coming into power in 2006 and recent re-election has lead to reforming the state’s implication in risk management and impacts generated by petroleum activity. For many years, the Ecuadorian government has taken on board the regulatory aspect of serious environmental, health and socio-cultural impacts linked to oil-drilling activities in the region of North-Amazonia.

The study of policy instruments implementation for two concerned parishes will enable gauging the efficacy of their social and institutional conditions. The objective is to highlight existing similarities and inequalities between neighbouring territories considering their own characteristics (social organisation, petroleum projects, political management, geographical and environmental conditions) and the manner in which these instruments are put into action. The aim of this task is to identify vulnerability factors and politico-institutional capacities (to cope with oil-related environmental issues) in order to form efficiency indicators of political responses. One hypothesis, outlined by Bustamente’s (2007) work, is that the Amazonian region has special characteristics in terms of political management (patronage, in particular) which render it particularly vulnerable to pressures generated by petroleum activities, and which also directly affect the population’s quality of life. This hypothesis can be overturned by: practices of patronage that can originate in the manner in which oil companies interact thus leading to a political type of management specific to RAE. Another hypothesis could be, based on local government (parish), that initiative and political capacity are fundamental strengths of resilience when faced with environmental and socioeconomic risks, insofar as these strengths enable taking advantage of opportunities offered by recent policies of compensation of socio-environmental impacts to oil extraction.

T4.1. Analysis of system of redistribution of 12% of Oil Company profits for local development (GET, LEREPS)

The aim is to first identify different scenarios for implementing the system for social redistribution of oil profits (12%), put into place by the 2010 reform bill of the hydrocarbons Act. How many parishes in the oil provinces have filed a development project application with the relevant organisations in the light of this redistribution system?  What exactly do the elected parties expect? What is their capacity for responding to this financial manna (creation of development projects)? How will the civil society participate in the definition of this new development model put forward by the reform bill? How will its represented interests be assured in the design and implementation of territorial development plans? 

 The methodology for this subtask is of a qualitative nature: documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. This subtask is closely related to task no. 6 concerning the building of “governance and sustainable development” scenarios; it will give information on logistics and action strategies of agents of the multi-agent simulation model.

T4.2. Efficiency of environmental policies at the cost of local political dynamics (GET)

Presently, two state-implemented policies are at the centre of environmental regulations concerning petroleum activities: the 1999 Environmental Management Law (LGE) and the 2011 Environmental regulations for activities concerning hydrocarbons (known as RAHOE or “12-15”). A variety of stakeholders of heterogeneous rationalities (public authorities, industry, residents, associations) are concerned, at the centre of which the Ministry of Environment is in charge of applying monitoring procedures, sanctions and remediation policies, and the Public enterprises, Petroecuador and Petroamazonas, are responsible for present-day and past contamination, its monitoring and reduction. The implementation of these regulations implies a minimum of coordination between these concerned stakeholders, of differing rationalities, which leads to three main questions:

1. Can the evolution of legislation and regulations in the 2008 Constitution framework enable monitoring, even the reduction of externalities of the in situ oil activity? 

2. What is the position of present-day politico-administrative organisation and territorial political dynamics in the efficacy of policies of environmental regulations for petroleum activities; how do these policies influence the coordination necessary for these regulations?   

3. Is the implementation of environmental standards adapted to the socio-cultural context on a local level? How and Why?

To realise these objectives, a scholarship in sociology has been requested in order to recruit a PhD student for three years. This student in question can be supported by both the GET in Toulouse and the CERTOP laboratory (sociology, section 40), at the same time associated by the MONOIL project.

 The methodology for this subtask is of a qualitative nature: firstly, a summary and an analysis of legal documentation and relevant public policies will be undertaken; secondly, data collections on different strategies on how regulations are put into practice, both nationally and locally, utilising an array of tools (focus groups, semi-structured interviews, observations):

(1) implementation of Agenda and standards and regulations, (2) their appropriation by the varied stakeholders – advantages, disadvantages, adaptation, expectations, (3) development of companies’ internal standards (a companies’ social responsibility).