ESTORIL, Portugal, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Ibero-American countries approved a pioneering Ecuadorean plan not to mine for oil in tropical forests in return for international compensation, the Portuguese presidential office said Monday in a statement.

    At the 19th Ibero-American Summit, which is being held in the Portuguese resort Estoril, summit participants approved the plan. Under the Yasuni initiative, Ecuador would leave some 900 million barrels of oil, worth 6 billion U.S. dollars, underground as a contribution to fight climate change.

    The initiative, which will avoid creating over 400 million tons of carbon dioxide, "ensures the conservation of one of the richest ecosystems in the world," the statement said.

    The Yasuni initiative has also been supported by the Non-Aligned Movement, the Union of South American Nations and the Rio Group, among others.

Ibero-American summit opens in Portugal

    LISBON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The annual Ibero-American summit opened here Sunday with a focus on ways to encourage the development of science and technology to better tackle the financial crisis and climate change.

    At the opening ceremony in Lisbon, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates called for economic and social modernization to ensure a quick recovery and steady growth of the world economy. Full story