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Ecuador court rules pollution violates rights of a river running through capital

12 points by pseudolus 2y ago

darth_avocado 2y ago
Similar ruling in India where Ganges and Yamuna were granted same legal rights as humans: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/21/ganges-and-yamuna-rivers-granted-same-legal-rights-as-human-beings https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/21/ganges-and-yam...
- PlunderBunny 2y ago
  And one river (so far) in New Zealand - the Whanganui river (2017) [0] [0] https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/innovative-bill-protects-whanganui-river-with-legal-personhood/ https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/innovativ...
bpodgursky 2y ago
Ecuador is in the middle of an existential war between the central government and drug gangs, I would say any court ruling here is more aspirational than functional, given the tenuous future of the rule of law.
- gus_massa 2y ago
  Do they have enough money to clean it? Here in Buenos Aires we have a small river that is heavily contamined by old leather procesing, but removing all the mud with chrome from the bottom is toooooo expensive. We are just trying to stop adding contamination and improve the water flow to keep the oxygen level at a minimum that support some fishes.
gamepsys 2y ago
I think Central/South America has good long term prospects, into the 2060s at least. Countries like Ecuador are making big moves to improve their future. While a lot of the changes are controversial and risky, I think it's likely to workout positively for some of them. With current population trends it's going to be one of the last regions to have maintain positive population growth. The aging populations, and the project population declines, of the world will cause incredible strain on the economy. Being several decades behind the global trends will give them an advantage on any manufactured goods not fully automated. The most political stable and globally connected countries in the 2030s and 40s will be the winners. Political instability, crime/corruption, changing climates, and weak military power makes investment in the area high risk. It's hard to determine which smaller countries will be breakout successes. If this river is actually clean in 3 years, this is a positive signal for Ecuador.
deleted 2y ago
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12 points by pseudolus 2y ago

Similar ruling in India where Ganges and Yamuna were granted same legal rights as humans: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/21/ganges-and-yamuna-rivers-granted-same-legal-rights-as-human-beings https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/21/ganges-and-yam...

PlunderBunny 2y ago
And one river (so far) in New Zealand - the Whanganui river (2017) [0] [0] https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/innovative-bill-protects-whanganui-river-with-legal-personhood/ https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/innovativ...

bpodgursky 2y ago

Ecuador is in the middle of an existential war between the central government and drug gangs, I would say any court ruling here is more aspirational than functional, given the tenuous future of the rule of law.

gus_massa 2y ago
Do they have enough money to clean it? Here in Buenos Aires we have a small river that is heavily contamined by old leather procesing, but removing all the mud with chrome from the bottom is toooooo expensive. We are just trying to stop adding contamination and improve the water flow to keep the oxygen level at a minimum that support some fishes.

gamepsys 2y ago

I think Central/South America has good long term prospects, into the 2060s at least. Countries like Ecuador are making big moves to improve their future. While a lot of the changes are controversial and risky, I think it's likely to workout positively for some of them. With current population trends it's going to be one of the last regions to have maintain positive population growth. The aging populations, and the project population declines, of the world will cause incredible strain on the economy. Being several decades behind the global trends will give them an advantage on any manufactured goods not fully automated. The most political stable and globally connected countries in the 2030s and 40s will be the winners. Political instability, crime/corruption, changing climates, and weak military power makes investment in the area high risk. It's hard to determine which smaller countries will be breakout successes. If this river is actually clean in 3 years, this is a positive signal for Ecuador.

deleted 2y ago

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