Heads up – Embassy 26 – June 2010

No frills, no drills

Ana Alban describes herself as a no-frills Ambassador, most at home in jeans and a T-shirt, visiting communities in the remotest corners of her native Ecuador.

Alban arrives in London having spent two years establishing Ecuador’s new Agency for International Cooperation (AGECI), set up to coordinate international technical cooperation,  development projects and aid flows into the country soon after Ecuador signed the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

“There is a lot of duplication among NGOs and donors and some of what they do can have unintended consequences which distort the local economy,” she says, adding: “So finding a new paradigm between North-South relations is one of the main challenges of my job,“ she says.

The importance of the AGECI was highlighted within weeks of its creation when Ecuador was hit by severe flooding. “It was a huge challenge,” she admits, but the result was a blueprint for disaster management and risk reduction. 

Figuring out new ways to solve old problems comes naturally to the Ambassador. Appointed Minister of the Environment under both the Palacio and Correa administrations, from 2005-07, Alban introduced two ground-breaking environmental initiatives aimed at preserving Ecuador’s biodiversity for future generations.

During her tenure, she created a protected area in a part of the Ecuadorian Amazon for indigenous tribes living in voluntary isolation – despite the region containing around 20 per cent of Ecuador’s total oil reserves, which could earn the nation an estimated $10 billion.

The Government plans to reduce drilling in the region – thereby stopping 410 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere – in exchange for compensation for half of the lost revenue from the international community, to be invested back in the environment.

“By not drilling for oil, we are protecting the environment and by reducing the availability of oil, we are pressing the international community to find other sustainable sources of energy,” explains Alban, who is keen to engage the UK private sector and academic institutions in a debate about energy, environment, conservation as well as new financial and legal instruments.

The idea has already gained traction among some other nations – notably Germany and Spain– and part of the Ambassador’s job in London is to raise the profile of ground-breaking initiative in the UK.

“Industrialised and developing nations must come up with a joint strategy on clean development that balances immediate needs with environmental sustainabilty and human development,” she stresses.

 Ecuador is in the process of creating a financial instrument in the form of a multidonor international trust fund to be signed as early July this year. “This could be the beginning of other schemes around the world that could have a significant impact on climate change,” she reflects.

As environment minister, Alban also acted to protect the delicate World Heritage Site of the Galapagos Islands by introducing the ‘Galapagos 2020’ initiative, a planning a development agenda which has galvanised the local community into preserving their heritage. She also worked closely with UNESCO to introduce strict controls against invasive species and uncontrolled tourism.

“It’s satisfying to go to bed at night knowing that the work you did that day really did make a difference to a community, a culture, an ecosystem,” says Alban.

The Ambassador brings with her to this posting hands-on experience in development projects across Ecuador.

“I can proudly say that I know my country from north to south and east to west,” says the Ambassador. “When it comes to development, people all too often become statistics. I am here to explain the real experience behind the numbers. When you go to the villages, you see that a number is a face and a family.”

She will use her experience to enlarge the historic relationship between the UK and Ecuador. ”Whether it’s trade, technological cooperation, tourism, I hope I can keep alive the same passion that Charles Darwin found years ago.”