UNDP to administer unique trust fund
Quito, Ecuador – The Government of Ecuador and the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today signed a historic deal establishing a trust fund to step up protection of
an ecological site in an oil-rich area of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
The agreement - signed on Tuesday by Ecuador’s
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño and by Rebeca Grynspan, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNDP Associate Administrator - establishes
the commitment to leave an estimated 846 million barrels of crude oil lying under the Yasuní National Park, a World Biosphere
Reserve since 1989.
With the trust fund signed, Ecuador will be seeking contributions from governments to protect
Yasuni’s Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) fields from drilling. The fund’s objective is to hold at least 50 percent of the
estimated US$7 billion that tapping the oil would bring.
“We still have to collect the funds for the initiative
to become a reality,” said Ecuador’s Vice-President Lenín Moreno who was also present at the signing. “We need industrialized
countries to understand, in a spirit of shared responsibility, that what we have decided this historic morning is a sacrifice
for our country.”
The Yasuní ITT initiative contributes to the fight against climate change by preventing discharge
into the atmosphere of more than 400 million metric tons of carbon which would result from the burning of fossil fuels if
oil were extracted.
Once the fund is capitalized, UNDP will administer it through the specialized services of its
Multi-Donor Trust Fund Office which is responsible for more than 30 funds in 74 countries.
“We are witnessing the inauguration
of new instruments of cooperation which will act as a basis for supporting other national and international efforts directed
towards the search for economies that are in harmony with society, nature and the planet,” said Rebeca Grynspan.
The
Yasuní National Park is considered one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. It was designated a World Biosphere Reserve
in 1989 by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The park covers 982,000 hectares and is located
in the Upper Napo valley in the Western Amazon region of Ecuador.
