The so-called carbon market in Ecuador is still under construction. This figure is considered by international organizations, such as the World Bank and the United Nations, as an important part of climate change mitigation. To leverage this figure in the country, the national government seeks to modify article 74 of the Constitution so that the so-called Payments for Environmental Services (PSA) are allowed through a question, out of a list of eight, which seeks to be approved in the consultation that drives
According to the Government, the PSAs will allow the issuance of financial incentives and compensation for the protection, maintenance, use and exploitation of environmental services.
“The Constitution does not provide compensation for those who support the generation of these services.(…) The ambitious goals in terms of environmental protection and climate change cannot be deprived of their achievement, leaving aside the use of the instrument represented by the markets which, in turn, can be argued, is one of the bases that allowed the inclusion of article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and dictate the recent global environmental policies”, is indicated in the annex to the question.
Ecuadorian carbon market, which is still under construction, generates debate in various sectors
These services are the economic, social and environmental benefits that people obtain from the proper functioning of ecosystems and are classified as provision services; regulation; support; and cultural services. Among the most important are the provision of fresh water, the assurance of nutritious food, carbon sequestration, climate regulation, pollination, and disease and vector control.
The Executive also seeks to change article 248 of the Regulations of the Organic Environmental Code, which establishes that in no case may fees be created for compensation for an environmental service that occurs without human action or omission.
“With the proposed amendment, the role of the State will be strengthened as an entity that manages biodiversity and natural resources, in charge of ensuring their protection and regeneration, thus complying with the rights of nature established in the Constitution and, in turn, respecting the spirit of this and taking into account the needs of present and future generations for an adequate environment for the preservation of life both as a species and globally”, affirms the Government.
However, voices from civil society assure that this amendment could lead to a privatizing environmental governance model that ends in dispossession of the usufruct of the land.
“For PES, ecosystem services are monetarily quantified, leaving aside other forms of valuation and prioritizing some services over others. Obviously, those that generate more profitability are prioritized”, indicates Gabriela Borja, a sociologist at the Central University.
He adds that to establish the PES, a delimitation of the areas to be conserved is needed and the people who live in that place cannot carry out activities that affect ecosystem services. Before approving or not this figure, according to Borja, it is necessary to analyze who these ecosystem services affect and benefit.
“On many occasions it is the small peasants who live in highlands, such as the páramos, who must stop doing their agricultural or grazing activities because these affect water production. This not only affects their economy, but also their way of life and culture.“, He says.
It indicates that people, unable to use their land, are forced to look for other spaces to plant or migrate to the cities, especially when the PES are not given in money but through materials, equipment or training that are linked to the process. of conservation.
“In many spaces, around the world, where PES occur, what happens is that strategic places for the production of ecosystem services are bought by large owners, companies that are dedicated to conservation or by companies that make use of an ecosystem service such as water. and that they need to preserve this site to guarantee their production. It also happens that the organizations or companies that carry out the PSA are the ones that decide what the peasants do or do not do in these spaces. This is what I mean by the fact that privatizing governance processes can be generatedBorja points out.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, Gustavo Manrique, points out that PSAs are compensation mechanisms that promote economic or other investments, so that natural and legal persons, public and private, communities, peoples and nationalities can implement initiatives (conservation, restoration, etc.) that allow nature to continue fulfilling its functions through the provision of environmental services.
“Through these compensation mechanisms, it is possible to contribute to the maintenance of biodiversity, the collection and filtration of water, mitigation of the effects of climate change, oxygen generation and assimilation of various pollutants, soil retention, wildlife refuge, among others. others“, He says.
The official adds that in Ecuador there are already experiences on compensation mechanisms, such as economic incentives for conservation such as the Socio Bosque Program: “Other financial mechanisms such as those established for the Hermandad Marine Reserve are also other opportunities that the country can take advantage of within the of the ecological transition.
Borja points out that due to the complexity involved in establishing the PES, it is not the most appropriate thing to ask about this in a consultation, since it is necessary to analyze in depth who makes the payments, what ecosystem services are, how it will be calculated, in economic terms, the value of these services. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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