As Bolivian President Evo Morales moves ahead with plans to nationalize the country’s natural resources, his government has begun detailing key environmental ground rules aimed at governing those resources. The leading case in this regard concerns natural gas, Bolivia’s top export and a crucial underpinning of its economy. While environmental policies in such sectors as mining and forestry remain works in progress, Susana Rivero, Bolivia’s Minister of Rural Development, Agriculture and Environment, last month announced regulations addressing the environmental and social impacts of gas development. The new rules spell out how Bolivia will fulfill its responsibility under a 2005 Hydrocarbons Law provision requiring that indigenous communities be consulted about gas projects affecting their land. Rivero also has issued a plan for “social-environmental monitoring” of... [Log in to read more]