The Suriname economy has been historically linked to extractive sectors. Between the 17th and 19th century, the country's economy was initially focused on cocoa, sugar and cotton slave plantations under dutch colonial rule. In the 20th century, bauxite and aluminium became dominant sectors of the economy [5]. Currently, gold mining represents 75% of exports, with an important presence of artisanal small scale mining. Finally, the oil sector is becoming more important and now represents 10% of exports. Both the gold and oil sector are controlled through the national oil company Staatsolie which mostly developed onshore oil exploitations in Saramacca district until 2016. That year, after significant discoveries in the same oil basin in nearby Guyana, offshore exploration licences were put on tender to international oil companies, subject to participation rights for Staatsolie [6].

Local environmental activist Erlan Sleur, chairman of Probios, opposes the extraction of offshore oil and advocates to keep the oil in the ground. The arguments defend that an oil spill would spell a death sentence to the mangroves along the country’s coast. According to the organisation, the mangroves are the best defence against sea level rise, as they will grow higher with the ocean waters protecting the shoreline. Furthermore, they oppose seismic exploration test as they will disturb the ocean wildlife [7].

Erlan Sleur regrets there is not much opposition locally. People are convinced by the promises that the oil sector will bring rapid economic development and lift them out of poverty. However, he thinks that corruption and mismanagement will land the profits with the multinationals and the national cliques, and leave nothing for the Surinamese [7]. In a study on the oil deals and their financing by international development banks, the german environmental justice organisation urgewald, indeed finds that “ultra low royalty (6.5%) and tax rates for oil investments remain, while tax rates for non-oil sectors and citizens increase, with the heaviest burden falling on the poorest people”. They criticise the involvement of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank in supporting the establishment of international oil companies in Suriname at the expense of expanding the country’s crippling debt and the devastation of the climate [8].

In compensation for leaving the oil in the ground, the local conservation organisation Probios demands rich countries pay Suriname for protecting nature [7]. In what initially would seem like a move towards the environmental justice demands from local organisations, TotalEnergies struck a deal with Suriname’s government in November 2021 to preserve the country’s forest. Under the agreement, the company would pay $50m in exchange for an unspecified amount of carbon credits. But this is not what local organisations demand, TotalEnergies wants to drill for oil and pay the crumps for forest protection without clear evidence demonstrating any emissions avoidance. BankTrack defends that such carbon credits schemes “reduce the incredible diversity of the planet’s forests, grasslands and wetlands to a commodity that will be traded, and in the process triggering a massive new resource grab from Indigenous Peoples, peasants and local communities, mainly in the global South.” BankTrack denounces the deal as “the greenwashing of oil Block 58” and reminds that no new fossil fuel projects are compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5ºC. The international organisation demands that banks and insurers stop supporting the expansion of the fossil fuel industry in general, and TotalEnergies’ Block 58 in particular [9].

The tragic global environmental injustice is patent in this deal with the devil: “as rich countries fail to deliver on their obligations to reduce emissions and provide climate and mitigation finance, a country that will be impacted severely by the consequences of climate change now finds itself in bed with an oil giant.” [9]