The people of Ecuador just made climate justice history. The world can follow | Steven Donziger

Voters won a huge battle with the oil industry - proving that we can't save the planet without robust democracy

Days ago, voters in Ecuador approved a total ban on oil drilling in protected land in the Amazon, a 2.5m-acre tract in the Yasuni national park that might be the world's most important biodiversity hotspot. The area is a Unesco-designated biosphere reserve and home to two non-contacted Indigenous groups. This could be a major step forward for the entire global climate justice movement in ways that are not yet apparent.

This vote is important not only for Ecuador and for the Indigenous peoples in the Yasuni, who now have hope of living in peace in perpetuity. It is also a potential model for how we can use the democratic process around the world to help slow or even stop the expansion of fossil fuels to the benefit of billions of people.