GOING GREENER

Internal policymaking, a mix of initiatives, and international help are boosting Ecuador’s ecological transition, saving one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet.

ECUADOR’S NATURAL SPLENDOR is too good to lose. The country is home to unique ecosystems created by the colossal Andes mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the Amazonian rainforests that cover most of the country. The combination of mountains, rainforests, and the coastal climate has given rise to a wide range of flora and fauna, some of which are unique to Ecuador and its mist-covered forests and mountains. It makes sense, as such, that the authorities want to keep an eye on the country’s ecological transition and prevent any potential harm.

“Ecuador is the first country in Latin America to adopt the public policy of ecological transition towards a circular economy, resilient and low in emissions,” observed President Lasso in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (nicknamed COP26). Ecuador’s president opened the summit by announcing Ecuador’s intention to create a marine reserve in the Galápagos, which is a mountainous, coastal ecosystem with coral reefs. The region’s climate is so unique that it is said to be important not only for Ecuador but “humanity at large,” according to Gustavo Manrique, Minister of the Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition. Despite the Lasso administration’s determination to conserve the ecosystem, the challenges ahead are numerous.

Ecuador has a relatively high deforestation rate; the mountainous terrain makes construction difficult, and when an appropriate piece of flatland is identified, its trees are sometimes uprooted to make way for construction projects. Moreover, Ecuador is an oil exporter with sizable reserves, and with cheap oil available, the country used to rely heavily on hydrocarbon fuels for years, falling behind in the use of clean energies. So how is Ecuador responding to these ecological challenges?

Fortunately, Ecuador and its people are not alone in dealing with these challenges. Some international non-profit organizations have stretched a helping hand. The US-based, Nature Conservancy, for example, which uses scientific methods to help ecological conservation in over 75 countries, notes that “from the top of the Andes to the depths of the Pacific, from Galápagos Islands to the Amazon, we aim to turn Ecuador into an incubator for global solutions that enable nature and people to thrive together.” The organization is currently running three different programs in Ecuador to help manage its watersheds, create sustainable landscapes, and limit damages to the marine-coastal ecosystem. Another project, called REDD+, was negotiated during COP26 in Glasgow with Norway, in which the Norwegian government will pay Ecuador USD24 million to keep deforestation in check.

The authorities, meanwhile, are active on other fronts. “The government of Ecuador has committed to pursuing sustainable economic development policies focused on addressing Ecuador’s vulnerability to climate change and expanding domestic renewable energy production in its First Nationally Determined Contribution,” according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This includes an unconditional 20.4-25% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.

To achieve the promised reduction in emissions, Ecuador has prioritized clean energies and escaping the oil trap by diversifying its energy portfolio. As of 2021, the contribution of clean energies was modest—at just under 8%. And that percentage was mainly generated by hydropower—the least preferred form of clean energy. As clean energy solutions such as solar panels are slowly but surely taking off, Ecuador has adopted policies to keep items such as batteries—which are an essential component of solar solutions—eco-friendly. Battery manufacturers must convince the government that they recycle at least 80% of the batteries they sell. A similar initiative demands all manufacturers of electrical appliances comply with the principles of circular economy. The main aim is to recycle as much gold, lead, cobalt, bronze, and plastic as possible. If these metals are not recycled, they will leak into the ecosystem, and mining activities have to ramp up to replace them, which will lead to more environmental contamination.

There is also a political factor at play; the leftist presidents who came and went before the current right-of-center administration placed heavy emphasis on social policies, with the required budgets for these policies usually coming from crude oil exports, which in turn caused severed oil dependence, environmental hazards from oil extraction in vulnerable Amazonian ecosystems, and a general lack of will to shift to clean energies. With the vanishing of leftist or left-of-center policies from Ecuador’s political scene, the drive to clean energies will likely become stronger.

To facilitate the issue of governance in ecological matters, President Lasso’s administration has launched a new ministry, the Ministry of the Ecological Transition, which also takes over the duties of the Ministry of Water. Minister Manrique, with three decades of hands-on experience in sustainable development, told TBY in an interview that his ministry will also engage the private sector in the ecological transition of the country through the Ecuador Carbon Zero project. The initiative “aims to help many companies achieve carbon neutrality. This involves measuring their base line of carbon emissions, having a reduction plan, and finally a plan for conservation or compensation through protected areas and zones of Ecuador,” according to Manrique. The ministry will also do its best to achieve the promised emission reduction of at least 22.5% by the year 2025.

How did AFH grow to be a leading laboratory in this market niche in Ecuador?

We established ourselves as AFH Services, a limited company, in 2013; however, we started operations as an unincorporated business in 2002, where a majority shareholder controlled the company. Some 20 years ago, the country was only starting to get acquainted with environmental issues, and most of what was done was copying models of other countries. We started working in this area firstly because the chemical engineering faculty of the Central University of Ecuador started to offer courses related to climate change and environmental topics backed by its experiences in Spain. We started to become familiar with international technologies, make references to EPA, learn from Spanish experiences, and translate these to better fit our local market. We started developing our own know-how based on a system that we knew worked and adapted to the legislation we had at the time. The legislation, laboratories, and companies have progressed forward, slow but steadily. For example, in the past we did not consider the ambient air quality such as a controlled parameter, a measurement that is extremely important around the world. Today, it is our number-one service.

What type of air quality solutions do you offer for companies?

We provide important data for taking decisions by companies. For example, according to regulation, you can have 10,000 micrograms per cubic meters of carbon monoxide. In the results we provide, between 8am and 10am the levels are somewhat over the limit. With this data, we can tell companies that in that time frame they should not be working with their stationary sources at 100%. We could also tell them to get a better balance from the fuel they are using, or that they should evaluate improving their combustion ratio considering the heat output they require. This is a tool that enables companies to make timely and immediate decisions. Another example is when building road, and dust particles are raised. When we monitor, we can advise our clients if they are having excess amounts of dust and if that is the case, they should come up with alternative solutions.