Are small communities destined to lose to powerful Big Oil? Not necessarily. For April’s Our Planet Our Future Book Club, we read We Will Not Be Saved by Nemonte Nenquimo with Mitch Anderson. The memoir takes us on a journey from Nenquimo’s childhood deep within Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest to leading her people to victory against the Ecuadorian government and oil companies in 2019.
A member of the Waorani Nation, Nenquimo’s community traditionally lived as hunter-gatherers. That is, until missionaries moved in and introduced the Western world and all its trappings, to the detriment of the culture and health of the indigenous peoples, as well as the environment and biodiversity. Today, Nenquimo is co-founder of Amazon Frontlines and the Ceibo Alliance and was named by Time 100 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Brave new world
We started by sharing our first impressions of the book. Overwhelmingly, there were feelings of wonder — at a world of plants, animals, shamanism and Waorani folklore we’d never glimpsed before — but also anger and depression at the community’s seemingly premeditated manipulation. Central to Waorani culture is a deep respect for nature, but it seemed the cowori — outsiders — had little respect for the people.
In cahoots?
One aspect that wasn’t clear to us was whether the missionaries and oil companies had worked together from the beginning. Certainly, the work of the missionaries to instil the infuriating idea that Western (Christian) culture was superior, and that the indigenous peoples needed saving, made it easier for the oil companies to swoop in and take the land with little initial resistance. The missionary’s work made the people more compliant, and many indigenous people worked with the oil companies in return for wads of cash they considered so useless they hung them to blacken above their fires.
This led us to a debate about the missionaries themselves. Were they true believers, convinced they were doing good? While Christian values are meaningful and universal to many cultures and religions, it is depressing how often abuse crops up again and again.
From the Amazon to the world
Do people tend to first get involved in environmentalism at a micro or macro level? Nenquimo’s fight was initially for her community and the rainforest, but she soon realised the rainforest’s vital importance to the health of the planet.
While local action is a hook, is it more important that countries come together to act on the bigger issue of climate change? The repair of the ozone hole, achieved through a global ban on CFCs, albeit largely driven by one dominant manufacturer, suggests we can work together to effect great change.
But there is also value in seemingly small changes which, together, can have a big impact. We discussed how:
- Replacing incandescent light bulbs had a big impact on the UK’s energy consumption.
- Gravity batteries are using excess wind or solar power to power winches up and down mineshafts.
- In India, solar panels over canals are generating energy and protecting waterways from drying up.
- Plastic destined for landfill is being used to bolster tarmac roads, improving performance and cutting emissions.
As these examples show, local projects show the rest of the world what’s possible. While governmental change can be slow, there are already large organisations working behind the scenes on promising projects. This echoes a previous book club read, Five Times Faster by Simon Sharp, who noted that while the Cop conferences often make slow progress, the real action takes place in the fringe events, where informal groups get together to discuss and agree on initiatives.
Our next event
Want to broaden your knowledge of sustainability challenges and solutions while meeting like-minded readers?
Our next book club takes place on the 25th of June. The next book will be The Good Communicator: How to Make Sustainability Irresistible by local author Virginia Cinquemani. Book your free spot here. You can buy a copy of the book from Practical Inspiration Publishing and Kindle.
About Our Planet Our Future’s Environment Book Club
Our Planet Our Future, Sustainable St Albans’ landmark series of talks and events, launched the Environment Book Club in 2023. The book club meets monthly in Harpenden to explore books that inspire us to live more sustainably and think differently about the future. Join us and be part of the conversation.
Catch up on previous book club reviews
Explore our past discussions and discover more sustainability reads:
- Saving Us by Katharine Hayhoe
- The High House by Jessie Greengrass
- A Climate of Truth by Mike Berners-Lee
- Prosperity Without Growth by Tim Jackson
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Blue Machine by Helen Czerski
- Badvertising by Andrew Simms and Leo Murray
- Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
- Regenesis by George Monbiot
- Five Times Faster by Simon Sharpe