On September 6th, 2012 GSIS invited Abassador Ivonne A. Baki, Secretary of State
for Ecuador's Yasuni-ITT Initiative and held a Distinguished Lecture titled "The Role of
Natural Resource Abundant Countries in Climate Change International Negotiations."
At the lecture, Ambassador Baki presented the Yasuni-ITT Initiative which is
a government project to indefinitely forego the exploitation of oil reserves of
the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) oil field located within the Yasuni National Park.
The Ambassador explained that by making a conscious decision to leave oil reserves
untapped, Ecuador avoids emitting 407 million tons of CO2 and effectively mitigates
the effects of climate change. She concluded by stressing the global impact of the
Yasuni-ITT Initiative and asked the audience to be conscious of the change thier
desicions and actions can bring to the global environment. The Q&A session
which then followed involved active participation from students in the audience.