Dear Mr. President:
As concerned academics and authors from many countries, we are writing in support of Ecuador’s initiative to refrain from exploitation of the heavy crude oil of Yasuní-ITT.
Along with thousands of other world citizens, we look to the Yasuní-ITT initiative as a pioneering step in the international struggle for a post-fossil-fuel civilization. We have been inspired by the determination of the Ecuadorian public to rejuvenate the initiative following your government’s recent decision to abandon it.
Accordingly, we are extremely concerned at reports that your government is attempting to repress the voices of the majority of Ecuadorians who continue to support the Yasuni proposal. We understand that efforts are under way to block a public referendum on the question, that press freedom is being curtailed, and that students exercising their right of dissent are being threatened with expulsion from their schools.
We will continue to follow the debate in Ecuador in hopes that a democratic solution to the question can be found, and that the proposal to leave petroleum in the ground in ITT, and to continue to respect the rights of the indigenous peoples who live there, does not die.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Vandana Shiva Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology Author, Soil not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis INDIA
Naomi Klein Author, The Shock Doctrine CANADA
Dr. James Hansen Author, Storms of My Grandchildren US
Andres Barreda Professor of Political Economy Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico MEXICO
Boaventura de Sousa Santos Professor University of Coimbra Author, La Refundacion del Estado en America Latina PORTUGAL
Elmar Altvater Professor Emeritus Free University of Berlin GERMANY
Joan Martinez-Alier Former President International Society for Ecological Economics SPAIN
Dr. Godwin Ojo Author, Envisioning a Post-Petroleum Economy NIGERIA
Susanna B. Hecht Professor of Regional Development and Environmental Analysis University of California, Los Angeles Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Author, The Scramble for the Amazon and the “Lost Paradise” of Euclides da Cunha US
Alf Hornborg Professor Human Ecology Division Lund University Author, Global Ecology and Unequal Exchange SWEDEN
Timothy Mitchell Professor of Middle Eastern Studies Columbia University Author, Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil US
Erik Swyngedouw Professor of Geography Manchester University Author, Social Power and the Urbanization of Water UK
Nancy Fraser Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics New School for Social Research Author, Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World US
Ulrich Brand Professor of International Politics University of Vienna Author, Beautiful Green World: On the Myths of a Green Economy AUSTRIA
Arturo Escobar Professor of Anthropology University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Author, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World US
Chanthana Banpasirichote Center for Peace and Conflict Studies Chulalongkorn University THAILAND
Donald MacKenzie Fellow of the British Academy Author, Material Markets UK
Raj Patel University of California, Berkeley Author, The Value of Nothing US
Prof. Dr. Norman Paech Professor of Law University of Hamburg GERMANY
Patrick Bond Senior Professor University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban Author, Politics of Climate Justice SOUTH AFRICA
Harriet Friedmann Professor Emerita of Sociology University of Toronto Author, Food Regimes: International Political Economy of Food CANADA
David M. Driesen University Professor of Law Syracuse University Author, The Economic Dynamics of Environmental Law US
Dr. Eko Teguh Paripurno Editor, Datang Gali dan Pergi: Potret Penutupan Tambang di Indonesia INDONESIA
Barbara Harriss-White Senior Research Fellow and Emeritus Professor of Development Studies Oxford University UK
Philip McMichael Professor of Development Sociology Cornell University US
Christoph Goerg Professor of Environmental Governance University of Kassel GERMANY
Stephen Gudeman Professor of Anthropology University of Minnesota Author, Conversations in Colombia: The Domestic Economy in Life and Text US
Dr. Ulrich Duchrow Professor of Systematic Theology University of Heidelberg GERMANY
Rev. Daniel Dale President Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America US
Noel Castree Professor of Geography Manchester University UK
Frederique Apffel-Marglin Visiting Professor, Wesleyan University Co-Editor, Decolonizing Knowledge: From Development to Dialogue US
Joel Kovel Author, The Enemy of Nature US
David Barkin Vice Presidente, Sociedad Mesoamericana de Economia Ecologica Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana MEXICO
George Caffentzis Author, In Letters of Blood and Fire: Work, Machines and the Crisis of Capitalism US
Steffen Böhm Professor Essex Sustainability Institute University of Essex Co-editor, Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets UK
Judith Carney Professor of Geography University of California, Los Angeles Author, In the Shadow of Slavery US
Prof. Dr. Helge Peukert University of Erfurt GERMANY
Sarah Bracking Professor of International Development Manchester University UK
Robin Broad Professor School of International Service American University US
Christof Scherrer Director International Center for Development and Decent Work University of Kassel GERMANY
Louise Fortmann Professor University of California, Berkeley Author, Participatory Research in Conservation and Rural Livelihoods: Doing Science Together US
Prof. Dr. Birgit Mahnkopf Berlin School of Economics and Law GERMANY
Bram Buscher Associate Professor of Environment and Sustainable Development Institute of Social Studies Erasmus University THE NETHERLANDS
Eduardo Canel Associate Professor Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean York University Author, Barrio Democracy in Latin America CANADA
Kathleen McAfee Associate Professor of International Relations San Francisco State University US
Anna Zalik Associate Professor of Environmental Studies York University CANADA
Joel Wainwright Associate Professor of Geography Ohio State University Author, Decolonizing Development: Colonial Power and the Maya US
Rob Fletcher Associate Professor of Environment and Development University for Peace, Ciudad Colon COSTA RICA
Geoff Mann Center for Global Political Economy Graduate Program Chair, Department of Geography Simon Fraser University CANADA
Hans G. Ehrbar Associate Professor of Economics University of Utah US
Dr. Rudolf Scheutz University of Salzburg 1986-2010 AUSTRIA
Salvatore Engel-DiMauro Associate Professor of Geography State University of New York, New Paltz Editor, Capitalism Nature Socialism US
Dr. David Szablowski Associate Professor, Law and Society York University Author, Transnational Law and Local Struggles: Mining, Communities and the World Bank CANADA
Dr. Anne Tittor University of Bielefeld GERMANY
Dr. Rupert Read Director Masters Programme in Environmental Sciences and Humanities University of East Anglia UK
Dr. Michael Hauser Associate Professor Department of Finance, Accounting and Statistics Vienna University of Economics AUSTRIA
Les Levidow Senior Research Fellow Open University UK
Lorenzo Pellegrini Senior Lecturer Institute of Social Studies Erasmus University THE NETHERLANDS
Pat Devine Honorary Research Fellow University of Manchester Author, Democracy and Economic Planning UK
Dr. Oliver Schweiger Department of Community Ecology Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ GERMANY
Sian Sullivan Senior Lecturer in Environment and Development Birkbeck College University of London Author, Financialisation, Biodiversity Conservation and Equity: Some Currents and Concerns UK
Isaac ‘Asume’ Osuoka Post-Doctoral Visitor Faculty of Environmental Studies York University CANADA
Dr. Laurence Cox National University of Ireland, Maynooth Author, Buddhism and Ireland IRELAND
Michael K. Dorsey National Advisory Committee Environmental Protection Agency* US
Dr. Zeynep Kadirbeyoglu Assistant Professor Department of Political Science and International Relations Bogazici University TURKEY
Gareth Dale Senior Lecturer in Politics Brunel University UK
Christian Scholl University of Louvain Author, Two Sides of a Barricade: (Dis)order and Summit Protest in Europe BELGIUM
PD Dr. Aram Ziai Heisenberg Fellow in Political Science University of Kassel GERMANY
Stefania Barca Senior Researcher Center for Social Studies Author, Enclosing Water: Nature and Political Economy in a Mediterranean Valley PORTUGAL
Dr. Laura Horn University of Roskilde DENMARK
Ezra Halleck Assistant Professor of Mathematics City University of New York US
Silke Heumann Assistant Professor Institute of Social Studies Erasmus University THE NETHERLANDS
Dr. Wolfgang Neef Technische Universität Berlin GERMANY
Dr. Carl Middleton Faculty of Political Science Chulalongkorn University THAILAND
Dr. Matthias Cuntz Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ GERMANY
Claudio Cattaneo Associate Lecturer Università Carlo Cattaneo ITALY
Dr. Sandro Puetz Research Scientist Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ GERMANY
Doro Wiese Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Gender Studies Utrecht University THE NETHERLANDS
Martin Wiemers Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ GERMANY
Joanna Cabello Co-author, No REDD: A Reader PERU
Jutta Kill Co-author, Trading Carbon: How it Works and Why it is Controversial GERMANY
Elisabeth Gschaider Author, Kairo Heute AUSTRIA
Christian May Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main GERMANY
Tamra Gilbertson Author, Carbon Trading: How it Works and Why it Fails SPAIN
Benjamin Stephan Research Fellow Center for Globalisation and Governance University of Hamburg GERMANY
Dr. Ruth Makoff Honorary Research Fellow in Philosophy University of East Anglia UK
Dr. Elke Schuettler Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ GERMANY
Nancy Duxbury Senior Researcher Center for Social Studies University of Coimbra PORTUGAL
Christian Moellmann University of Kassel GERMANY
Dr. Christian Kerschner AUSTRIA
José Castro Caldas Researcher Center for Social Studies University of Coimbra PORTUGAL
Rolf Schroeder Co-Editor, Bibliography of Community Currency Research GERMANY
Daniel Bendix Glokal e. V. GERMANY
Ricardo Coelho Researcher Center for Social Studies University of Coimbra PORTUGAL
Josep de Trincheria Hamburg University of Technology GERMANY
Herbert Docena University of California, Berkeley US Bartosz Bartkowski Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ GERMANY
Melissa Checker Associate Professor of Urban Studies Queens College City University of New York US
Karin Walther Bewegungsakademie GERMANY
Torsten Krause Center for Sustainability Studies Lund University SWEDEN
Christoph Omann University of Vienna AUSTRIA
Nicholas Hildyard Co-author, The Politics of Industrial Agriculture UK
Mirko Petersen University of Bielefeld GERMANY
Vanessa Redak Head of Unit Banking Analysis Department Oesterreichische Nationalbank Vienna AUSTRIA
Jeroen Everaars Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ GERMANY
Quincy Saul Co-Founder, Ecosocialist Horizons US
Jessica Richter Institut für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte University of Vienna AUSTRIA
Cristian Alarcon Ferrari Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SWEDEN
Julian Kolm University of Vienna AUSTRIA
Miriam Boyer Columbia University US
Barbara Stefan Institute for Advanced Studies AUSTRIA
Nino David Jordan University College London UK
Michaela Szelesy University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna AUSTRIA
Larry Lohmann Author, El Mercado de Carbono: La Neoliberalizacion del Clima US
Janet Riedl Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ GERMANY
Jessica Dempsey Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
University of Victoria CANADA
Amelie Huber Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and Bogazici University, Istanbul GERMANY
Ali K. Saysel Institute of Environmental Sciences Bogazici University TURKEY
Lauren Gifford University of Colorado US
Alina Brad University of Vienna AUSTRIA
J. Gray Cox Professor of Human Ecology College of the Atlantic US
Dr. Wolfgang Fellner Institute for the Environment and Regional Development Vienna University of Economics and Business AUSTRIA
David Llistar ODG Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) SPAIN
Mónica Vargas ODG Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) SPAIN
Luis González Reyes Ecologistas en Acción, Madrid SPAIN
Laura Calvet Mir Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) SPAIN
María Heras López Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) SPAIN
Christian Kerschner Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) SPAIN
Claudio Cattaneo Research and Degrowth Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) SPAIN
Jaime Paneque Galvez Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) SPAIN
Mar Grau Satorras Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona SPAIN
Pere Ariza-Montobbio ODG FLACSO ECUADOR
*for identification purposes only
The project ENVJUSTICE has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 695446)