Green energy transitions and the temptation of natural resource rents: Experiences from Ecuador

ABSTRACT

In the last two decades, the Ecuadorian state, under the presidencies of left-wing Rafael Correa and his successor Lenín Moreno, has pursued a clearly marked development strategy based on the extraction and export of raw materials, especially oil. In Ecuador’s natural resource-driven development model, the appropriation and distribution of natural resource rents play a significant role. These rents render economic, institutional, and political reforms and development projects possible. However, the dependence of large strata of the Ecuadorian population on these rents presents hurdles for sustainable development in general and a green energy transition in particular. The article explores these challenges, emphasising the economic and political conditions defined by a rent-based logic. Although governments in Ecuador have started to acknowledge the role of green mining in the energy sector, a wholehearted energy transition or a push toward sustainable development might fail because of the formative power of rent.

KEYWORDS:

• Ecuador
• natural resources
• development
• sustainability
• rent

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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59 Although Rafael Correa repeatedly underscored the “differentiated responsibilities” in fighting climate change and rhetorically put blamed the consumerism in the Global North, his government and the one ofg his successor have supported the contents of the Paris Agreement. See: Statements made during the Leaders Event at the Paris Climate Change Conference - COP 21: https://unfccc.int/files/meetings/paris_nov_2015/application/pdf/cop21cmp11_leaders_event_ecuador_en.pdf

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Centre of Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS).

Notes on contributors

Jan Ickler

Jan Ickler is a researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Kassel, where he has been a coordinator at the Centre for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS). His research focuses on the relationship between economic elites and resource-driven development in Latin America, especially Ecuador. After having finished his master's degree in global political economy, he undertook several research visits in Latin America. Ickler’s areas of research include social inequalities, resource policy, and development theory. In 2023, The Political Economy of Extractivism and the Seduction of Rent, edited by Dr Hannes Warnecke-Berger and Ickler, was published by Routledge.