From CNBC · Lucy Handley · · 3m
Ecuador bets on green bonds while expanding oil drilling
Ecuador is pursuing conservation finance tools while planning new oil exploration, balancing biodiversity protection with resource extraction.
In brief
Ecuador is pursuing conservation finance tools while planning new oil exploration, balancing biodiversity protection with resource extraction. Ecuador is launching green bonds and biodiversity credits to fund conservation while simultaneously expanding oil exploration in the Amazon, drawing criticism from Indigenous…
Ecuador's biodiversity balancing act
Ecuador, known for its megadiverse Galapagos Islands, Amazon rainforest, Andes and Pacific coast, wants to protect its natural landscapes while also expanding oil exploration and developing critical minerals.
Green finance tools in place
Ecuador has already used debt-for-nature swaps completed in 2023 and 2024 that freed up about one point one billion dollars for conservation in the Amazon and Galapagos Islands.
First sovereign green bond planned
Juan Carlos Blum, Ecuador's minister of environment and energy, said the country hopes to issue sovereign green bonds for the first time in 2027 to protect coastal and mountainous regions.
COP18 hosting in 2028
Ecuador will host the U.N.'s biodiversity summit, known as COP18, in 2028, aiming to raise its environmental profile on the global stage.
The oil and mining challenge
In October, Ecuador announced plans to open new tenders for oil exploration in parts of the Amazon, news reportedly met with criticism from Indigenous leaders who strongly oppose the plans.
Energy reliance on oil
About eighty percent of Ecuador's energy was generated from oil and oil products in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency, while about two-thirds of its electricity came from hydroelectric power.
Balancing act acknowledged
Minister Blum said the country is being careful on the balance between biodiversity and natural resources use, calling it a delicate matter that is his day-to-day reality.
“We are being careful on that balance between biodiversity and natural resources use, renewables or not renewables, and it's a delicate matter.”
Biodiversity credits introduced
At Ecuador's first Bio Summit held November four to November six in Quito, biodiversity credits were introduced as a new way to monetize nature while preserving ecosystems.
First biodiversity credit project
Marcelo Salame is working on a project to bring biodiversity credits to Ecuador for the first time, to preserve and monetize a two hundred sixty hectare area of the Prosperina forest owned by ESPOL University…
How biodiversity credits differ
Unlike carbon credits used to offset emissions, biodiversity credits track measures such as species numbers and tree canopy cover, with money funneled back into nature protection without compensating for damage.
Concerns about single metrics
Jerry Toth, co-founder of Third Millennium Alliance, warned that optimizing for one metric like carbon storage can be dangerous because people may optimize for that at the expense of all other things.
“That can be potentially dangerous because then you have people that are optimizing for this one metric at the expense of all the other things.”
The bottom line
Ecuador is launching green bonds and biodiversity credits to fund conservation while simultaneously expanding oil exploration in the Amazon, drawing criticism from Indigenous groups.
