President Lasso’s market-friendly stance will be a relief to foreign investors and bondholders
Ecuador’s new president faces growing ESG challenges
International lenders distance themselves from Amazonian oil sector under pressure from climate campaigners
Ecuador’s newly elected president, conservative ex-banker Guillermo Lasso, faces significant ESG constraints as he tries to deliver on an election promise to double the debt-laden Andean country’s oil production. Running in his third electoral campaign, Lasso overcame a double-digit disadvantage in the first round to defeat leftist rival Andres Arauz by a 5pc margin. Lasso’s market-friendly stance will be a welcome relief to both foreign investors and bondholders. Like much of Latin America, Ecuador and its oil sector has been ravaged by the pandemic, with the country’s public debt rising to $63bn by end-2020—65pc of GDP. “The Chinese experience has been pretty negative” Gavin, Verisk
Also in this section
18 February 2025
Demand for CCS to abate new gas-fired plants is rising as datacentres seek low-carbon power, Frederik Majkut, SVP of industrial decarbonisation, tells Carbon Economist
11 February 2025
Rising prices have added to concerns over CBAM impact on the competitiveness of EU manufacturing
7 February 2025
Norwegian energy company slashes spending on low-carbon sectors as transition decelerates
30 January 2025
The UAE’s oil and gas company puts its faith in technologies including CCS and AI to deliver its emission-reduction goals
