Plans of Peru’s new administration spur concern among environmentalists

Keiko Fujimori, sworn in as Peru's president on July 28 after narrowly winning election, has promised to expand fossil fuel production and mining, including new lots in the Amazon and on the northern coast, alarming environmentalists and Indigenous leaders. Peru already leads the region with 85 oil and gas blocks in pre-production, covering more than a third of the country's land area, even as its Paris Agreement commitments call for reduced deforestation and protected natural areas.

Indigenous leaders including Matsés representative Leo Chuma Teca Beso say the plans favor resource extraction over the communities whose territories contain those resources. Reports also surfaced that Fujimori requested special legislative powers from Congress that would include expedited approval mechanisms for energy and hydrocarbon projects, which critics say would gut existing environmental review.

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