On the nights of the, huge flames illuminate the darkness in a perennial way. It is the fire of the lighters, large torches that burn gas in the oil wells and that, far from representing progress, in the green lung of the world. These structures not only burn natural gas in an unnecessary act of waste of a non -renewable resource, but also contaminate air, and put the lives and rights of those that inhabit close. Here, for more than 57 years, environmental justice is a distant dream and human rights are burned together with gas.
Gas burning in lighters: great climatic errors
He, from exploration to exploitation, severely affects biodiversity and generates impacts that undermine the right to dignified life, health and a clean and healthy environment. The burning of gas in lighters, in particular, has become a symbol of injustice, since maintaining them operating aggravates the global climate crisis, by contributing significant emissions of greenhouse gases such as methane, a supercontaminant, whose heating effect of the atmosphere is more powerful than that of the CO₂. The persistence of such an pernicious and unnecessary practice perpetuates an economic model dependent on fossil fuels.
Ecuador is among the 30 countries in the world that makes more use of gas burning in lighters
Since, we have made an exhaustive analysis in which we verify that, despite the sentence that determines the, they have increased in number and continue to operate near populated areas. This situation deepens the systemic marginalization, inequality and environmental racism, understood as the unequal distribution of negative environmental impacts that disproportionately affect racialized communities, which is experienced in the Ecuadorian Amazon as the great of the oil industry.
According to the World Bank, Ecuador is among the 30 countries of the world that makes more use of gas burning in lighters and keeping them on perpetuates a terrible practice that endangers the life, health and other rights of the most impoverished populations in the country.
The Ecuadorian government and companies such as Petroecuador have chosen to perpetuate this practice, prioritizing the economic benefits of oil extraction over human lives and the environment. This although they should rather fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights in the context of climate change and align their business operations and models with the objectives of the, specifically limiting the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 ° C above pre -industrial levels.
Three years later, the struggle of the activists is still standing, because the fulfillment of this sentence remains an empty promise
The government must also dialogue with indigenous peoples, respecting their worldviews and priorities, to avoid the expansion of sacrifice areas and protect the unique biodiversity of the Amazon. Faced with the elections that are being carried out in Ecuador, it is imperative that the person who is elected in the Ecuadorian presidency not only complies with the judicial sentence, but also implement policies that address the structural causes of inequality and marginalization in the Amazon deepened by an oil industry that extracts raw at any cost.
Resistance of Amazonian young activists
In the midst of this bleak panorama, nine girls and young people from the Amazon rose against this destruction symbol. With the support of the union of affected by the oil operations of Texaco (UDAPT) and the collective turn the lighters, these young women decided to face these fire monsters, as they themselves call the lighters, challenging the Ecuadorian state and the oil industry. Activists, whose fight is known as the MECHEROS CASEthey achieved in 2021 a historical judgment of a Court of the Ecuadorian Amazon, which recognized the violation of human rights caused by lighters, as well as their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions that aggravate global warming.
Three years later, the struggle of the activists is still standing, because the fulfillment of this sentence remains an empty promise. Despite the progressive elimination order of the lighters, prioritizing those close to populated communities, these structures continue to contaminate the region, perpetuating the negative impacts on the health of its inhabitants and the environment.
In a world on the verge of climate collapse, the struggle of these Amazon girls and young people and their courage to face the state and the National Hydrocarbons Company, Petroecuador, reminds us that climate justice is, above all, a matter of human rights. Its resistance shows that a better world is possible, but it requires the collective effort of governments, companies and citizens.
There is no time to lose
In December 2024, the United Nations Organization at its end of the year message announced that since 2014 the hottest years have ever registered. For its part, the World Meteorological Organization (OMM) declared 2024 as the warmest registered, exceeding 2023, which previously held the record. The year of 2024 also had more hurricanes, storms, fires, floods and other disasters linked to climate change.
The time to act is now. The flames of the lighters warn us that continuing as we are going not only perpetuates the damage, but also brings us to a point of no return.
It is time for the government of President Daniel Noboa to act with determination, not only to fulfill their obligations with national and international human rights and nature, but to guarantee a decent future for all people, especially that of children and young people who are paying for a climatic crisis that they did not cause. A future that also depends on the urgent elimination of fossil fuels.
The judgment of MECHEROS CASE It is clear, science is irrefutable, and time is exhausted. The affected communities, young activists who risk their lives for the Amazon and future generations expect more than words. They demand concrete actions and an effective schedule for the elimination of lighters, starting with those who poison homes and schools. President Noboa has in his hands the possibility of responding to the brave clamor of these nine young people who challenged the unnecessary and dangerous lighters, since it is time for Ecuador to turn off the wick of injustice to light life.
