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。这一博士论文研究项目将通过研究碳氢化合物部门的环境执法实践来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环境法在时间和空间上的执行情况，以及国家在影响资源开采的社会生态后果方面的作用。它将通过实证评估环境执法的复杂关系和国家在采掘业中发挥的作用，在资源和法律地理方面产生新的见解。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。该项目将为全球寻求将碳氢化合物开采的负面影响降至最低的政策制定者、政府官员、学者和环境倡导团体提供信息。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生能够建立强大的独立研究生涯。博士生将通过考虑不同参与者和机构之间的相互作用，对机构能力、自主性和与碳氢化合物部门相关的环境法律执行之间的关系进行实证调查。她将讨论三个核心问题：(1)预算和监管能力的增加如何导致环境监测实践的自主性和能力得到加强？(2)这种体制变化在什么条件下转化为对碳氢化合物部门的成功监测？(3)这些进程和模式在不同空间有何不同？学生将分析厄瓜多尔境内机构能力和监测以及冲突和合作机构间关系的数据库。这些分析应能更好地了解国家机构的自治、能力和监测职能的模式，并能够比较它们在不同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.