Source: Amnesty International –
By Alicia Moncada, Americas climate justice researcher, and Tamaryn Nelson, legal advisor for business and human rights
SUCUMBÍOS, Ecuador.-
At night in the Ecuadorian Amazon, huge flames light up the darkness. Flames from the gas flares that tower over the oil wells and that, far from being a sign of progress, are living scars on the green lungs of our planet. Not only do they burn natural gas, needlessly wasting a non-renewable resource, but they also pollute the air, destroy biodiversity and threaten the lives and rights of nearby communities. Here, environmental justice has been a distant dream for over 57 years, while human rights burn with the gas.