Business and Sustainability: The Camisea Project in the Peruvian Amazon Basin
Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Emerging Trends in Developing Economies
ISBN: 978-1-78441-152-7, eISBN: 978-1-78441-151-0
Publication date: 17 September 2014
Abstract
Purpose
This book chapter examines the social and environmental costs resulting from natural gas exploitation in the Peruvian Amazon basin with a special focus on the case of the ‘Camisea Natural Gas Project Block 88’ in the Peruvian Amazon basin.
Methodology/approach
This research drew from a comprehensive source of secondary literature data on the Camisea Project Block 88, complemented by an ethnographic research approach based upon observation, conversation and semi-structure interviews with native community members of the indigenous communities of Shivancoreni and Shimmaa in Cusco-Peru.
Findings
The study’s findings illustrate that it is evident that the threats from hydrocarbon development endangers the habitat of indigenous communities and accelerate the destruction of the Peruvian Amazon basin. A business commitment towards a sustainable investment approach coupled with reinforcing and adopting appropriate laws and regulations concerning the environmental protection of the Amazon basin are required in order to preserve one of the most diverse and threatened biological place in the world – the Amazon.
Social implications
The Amazon is the largest natural biodiversity reserve in South America. Yet, it has experienced habitat degradation and displacement of various indigenous tribes of Amazon. As a result, the legacy of indigenous knowledge and the sustenance of indigenous peoples’ habitat are at stake.
Originality/value of the chapter
This study provides historical context for the hydrocarbon sector of Peru, particularly in the Peruvian Amazon basin. It also provides insights into the Peruvian hydrocarbon law and regulations and the implications, roles and responsibilities of multinational natural gas companies and their environmental impacts of their business operations in Peru.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my immense gratitude to the indigenous communities who I interviewed in Peru, in particular, the indigenous communities of Shivancoreni and Shimmaa in Cusco-Peru.
I would like to thank Associate Professor, Gabriel Eweje, for inviting me to publish my work in this book series. Thank you Gabriel for all your valuable comments, support and mentoring throughout all these past years.
Last but not the least, I would like to thank my dear sister Patricia, mother Elena and grandmother Goyita for all their love and encouragement throughout my writing journey.
Citation
Huambachano, M. (2014), "Business and Sustainability: The Camisea Project in the Peruvian Amazon Basin", Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Emerging Trends in Developing Economies (Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability, Vol. 8), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 215-240. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-905920140000008012
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited