The riddle of leaving the oil in the soil—Ecuador's Yasuní-ITT project from a discourse perspective

The preservation of the cultural and biological features of the Yasuní biosphere reserve in Ecuador has been historically in conflict with oil activities. Astonishingly, in 2006 the government announced that this area, encompassing one fifth of the country's confirmed oil reserves, would be left indefinitely untapped if the international community contributed at least half of the revenue that the extraction of this oil would generate. Given Ecuador's oil dependency, this seems to be a riddle. Using a case study approach, this article applies concepts of discourse research to examine how the Yasuní-ITT project came about. It is shown how discursive elements related to indigenous peoples' rights, biodiversity conservation and climate change were drawn together and triggered a discontinuity in the dominant tradition of oil extraction. The specific socio-historical context in which these interwoven story-lines were inserted into formal politics is examined. Finally, a discussion is presented assessing the underlying discursive mechanisms that contributed to gaining government support as well as the institutionalization difficulties faced by the oil-moratorium.

► The Waorani called for an oil-moratorium in the Yasuni area in the 1990s.
► Biodiversity, indigenous people and climate change story-lines fortified this idea.
► Proponents of the oil-moratorium became government officials in 2006.
► The success of the Yasuní-ITT project requires a major multilevel discursive shift.