Doctoral Dissertation Research: Environmental Agencies and their Effective Monitoring of the Hydrocarbon Sector

为了控制与碳氢化合物开采有关的严重社会生态影响的风险，需要国家机构执行环境法律。本博士论文研究项目将通过检查碳氢化合物部门的环境执法实践，调查国家在自然资源开采治理中的作用。该项目将有助于更好地了解跨时间和空间的环境法执行情况，以及国家在影响资源开采的社会生态后果方面的作用。它将通过经验评估环境执法和国家在采掘业中所扮演的角色之间的复杂关系，在资源和法律地理学方面产生新的见解。博士生将与国家和地区政府机构、社会组织和国际非政府组织合作，传播项目成果。该项目将为全球的政策制定者、政府官员、学者和环境倡导团体提供信息，以尽量减少碳氢化合物开采的负面影响。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。考虑到所涉及的不同行为者和机构之间的相互作用，博士生将对与碳氢化合物部门有关的机构能力、自主性和环境法执行之间的关系进行实证研究。她将讨论三个核心问题：(1)增加预算和监管能力如何提高环境监测实践中的自主权和能力？(2)在什么条件下，这些制度变化能够转化为对油气行业的成功监测？(3)这些过程和模式在空间上如何变化？该学生将分析关于厄瓜多尔境内机构能力和监测以及机构间冲突和合作关系的数据库。这些分析应使人们更好地了解国家机构的自治、能力和监测职能的模式，并使人们能够比较它们在各管辖单位之间的效力。

In order to control the risk of severe socioecological impacts related to hydrocarbon extraction, enforcement of environmental laws on the part of state agencies is needed. This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate the role of the state in the governance of natural resource extraction by examining the practices of environmental law enforcement in the hydrocarbon sector. The project will contribute to a better understanding of environmental law implementation across time and space as well as the role of the state in influencing the socioecological consequences of resource extraction. It will generate new insights in resource and legal geography by empirically assessing the complex relationships of environmental law enforcement and the role played by the state in the extractive sector. The doctoral student will work with national and regional government agencies, social organizations, and international nongovernment organizations to disseminate project findings. The project will inform policy-makers, government officials, academics, and environmental advocacy groups globally who seek to minimize the negative impacts of hydrocarbon extraction. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.The doctoral student will investigate empirically the relationship between institutional capacity, autonomy and the enforcement of environmental laws related to the hydrocarbon sector by taking into account the interplay among the different actors and agencies involved. She will address three core questions: (1) How have increased budgets and regulatory competence led to enhanced autonomy and capacity in the practice of environmental monitoring? (2) What are the conditions under which such institutional changes have translated into successful monitoring of the hydrocarbon sector? (3) How do these processes and patterns vary across space? The student will analyze databases on the institutional capacity and monitoring as well as conflictive and cooperative inter-agency relationships within Ecuador. The analyses should yield a better understanding of the patterns of autonomy, capacity, and monitoring functions of the state agencies as well as enable a comparison of their effectiveness across jurisdictional units.