tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/extractive-industries-3435/articlesExtractive industries – The Conversation2022-12-01T19:03:13Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1954382022-12-01T19:03:13Z2022-12-01T19:03:13Z54% of projects extracting clean energy minerals overlap with Indigenous lands, research reveals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498385/original/file-20221201-26-isootg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C2000%2C1446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Indigenous person in Indonesia protests against a copper and gold mine.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charles Dharapak/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Vast <a href="https://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/961711588875536384/Minerals-for-Climate-Action-The-Mineral-Intensity-of-the-Clean-Energy-Transition.pdf">quantities</a> of minerals are needed to accelerate the transition to a clean energy future. Minerals and metals are essential for wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries for electric vehicles. But <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/indigenouspeoples">Indigenous peoples</a> have <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xH_cDO-_Of0Keykih3CrU_GsruKyPILVd9dt5KqUcOE/edit">raised concerns</a> about more mining on their lands and territories.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00994-6">new study</a> led by authors John Owen and Deanna Kemp, published today, supports First Nations peoples’ concerns. We identified 5,097 mining projects involving about 30 minerals needed in the energy transition. Some 54% are located on or near Indigenous peoples’ lands.</p>
<p>These lands are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0100-6">valuable</a> ecologically and culturally. Their soils, and land cover such as forests, store carbon which helps to regulate the planet’s climate. Typically, the lands are also intrinsic to Indigenous peoples’ identity and way of life.</p>
<p>Energy transition minerals are essential to tackling climate change. But First Nations people must have a genuine say in where and how they’re extracted.</p>
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<img alt="Indigenous people perform ceremonial dance" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498423/original/file-20221201-20-90rw3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498423/original/file-20221201-20-90rw3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498423/original/file-20221201-20-90rw3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498423/original/file-20221201-20-90rw3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498423/original/file-20221201-20-90rw3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498423/original/file-20221201-20-90rw3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498423/original/file-20221201-20-90rw3f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Traditional lands are intrinsic to Indigenous peoples’ identity and way of life. Pictured: a ceremonial dance in northeast Arnhem Land earlier this year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aaron Bunch/AAP</span></span>
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<h2>When minerals and communities collide</h2>
<p>The International Energy Agency <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/executive-summary">projects</a> lithium demand for electric vehicle batteries will grow 40 times on current levels by 2040. Our study found 85% of the world’s lithium reserves and resources overlap with Indigenous peoples’ lands.</p>
<p>Demand for nickel and manganese is projected to grow 20-25 times. We found 75% of manganese and 57% of nickel reserves and resources also overlap with these lands.</p>
<p>Copper and iron ore are essential for power generation, as well as its transport, storage and use. Some <a href="https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A3192744/download">scenarios</a> predict an increase in copper demand of more than 250% by 2050. We found 66% of the world’s copper and 44% of iron reserves and resources overlap with Indigenous peoples lands globally.</p>
<p>Overall, across the 5,097 projects in our study, 54% are on or near Indigenous peoples’ lands. And almost one-third are on or near lands over which Indigenous peoples are recognised as having control or influence for conservation purposes.</p>
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<img alt="Two men stands near mine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498388/original/file-20221201-24-92bb9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498388/original/file-20221201-24-92bb9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498388/original/file-20221201-24-92bb9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498388/original/file-20221201-24-92bb9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498388/original/file-20221201-24-92bb9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498388/original/file-20221201-24-92bb9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498388/original/file-20221201-24-92bb9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many mines in the study were on or near Indigenous lands. Pictured: local officials inspect a copper mine in Pakistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Naseem James/AP</span></span>
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<h2>Free, prior and informed consent</h2>
<p>Last year, Indigenous groups and from around the world signed a <a href="https://earthworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Declaration-on-Mining-and-the-Energy-Transition-2022.pdf">declaration</a> calling on climate negotiators at the <a href="https://ukcop26.org/">COP26</a> United Nations Climate Change Conference to commit to sourcing transition minerals more responsibly.</p>
<p>They also called on governments and corporations to obtain the “<a href="https://www.oxfam.org.au/what-we-do/economic-inequality/mining/free-prior-and-informed-consent/">free, prior and informed consent</a>” of Indigenous peoples in decisions that affect them. </p>
<p>This type of consent is <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">enshrined</a> in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It means Indigenous peoples should be able to accept or reject mining on their traditional lands, and to negotiate conditions such as protecting natural and cultural heritage. </p>
<p>Mining has hugely complex repercussions <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9">and can cause</a> severe harms to societies, the environment and human rights. Consultation and consent processes take time. Companies and governments seeking to extract resources in haste are likely to fail to <a href="https://www.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/16047IIED.pdf?">meaningfully engage</a> with communities. </p>
<p>If new mining projects are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629622001694">fast-tracked</a>, there is a huge risk of corners being cut. Without proper consultation and legal protections, the future supply of transition minerals could put Indigenous peoples’ lands at greater risk.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/critical-minerals-are-vital-for-renewable-energy-we-must-learn-to-mine-them-responsibly-131547">Critical minerals are vital for renewable energy. We must learn to mine them responsibly</a>
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<img alt="two woman in traditional attire at protest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498390/original/file-20221201-14-r0ed46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498390/original/file-20221201-14-r0ed46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498390/original/file-20221201-14-r0ed46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498390/original/file-20221201-14-r0ed46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498390/original/file-20221201-14-r0ed46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498390/original/file-20221201-14-r0ed46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498390/original/file-20221201-14-r0ed46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Indigenous peoples should be able to accept or reject mining on their traditional lands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andre Penner/AP</span></span>
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<h2>Weak laws must be strengthened</h2>
<p>Australia has a shocking track record in protecting Indigenous heritage and obtaining consent. </p>
<p>In May 2020, Rio Tinto <a href="https://antar.org.au/issues/cultural-heritage/the-destruction-of-juukan-gorge/">destroyed</a> 46,000 year old Aboriginal rock shelters to mine iron ore, against the wishes of traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples.</p>
<p>The traditional owners <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/traditional-owners-lodge-submission-to-inquiry-into-juukan-gorge-destruction/bc02jn2ag">said</a> the destruction was a tragedy for their people, all Australians and humanity. Alarmingly, the destruction was legal.</p>
<p>Last week, responding to a federal parliamentary inquiry into the Juukan Gorge incident, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the destruction of the rock shelters was “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/government-to-respond-to-juukan-gorge-inquiry-implement-new-legislation/news-story/23c13d8b56a52d86cf66bfb4abc56195">completely wrong</a>”. She acknowledged the massive power imbalance when traditional owners negotiated with mining companies, and the lack of resources they can draw on.</p>
<p>Plibersek said legal reform is urgently needed to stop such destruction happening again. In this vein, the Commonwealth has signed an <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/partnership-agreement-with-first-nations-heritage-protection-alliance.pdf">agreement</a> with the <a href="https://culturalheritage.org.au/">First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance</a> to co-design new cultural heritage laws. </p>
<p>Initiatives such as <a href="https://culturalheritage.org.au/dhawura-ngilan-business-investor-initiative/">Dhawura Ngilan</a> (Remembering Country) set a collective vision for best-practice heritage standards and legislation. Companies and investors should apply these protocols while our laws catch up.</p>
<p>In the meantime, other heritage sites in Western Australia are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-28/rio-tinto-remedy-agreement-signed-after-juukan-gorge-destruction/101705944">threatened</a> by existing deveopment approvals. And the new Aboriginal Cultural <a href="https://www.wa.gov.au/government/document-collections/aboriginal-cultural-heritage-act-2021">Act</a> still vests the minister with <a href="https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/new-wa-aboriginal-heritage-act-leaves-final-say-on-cultural-site-protection-with-minister-20211116-p599i0.html">ultimate power</a> to decide the fate of Aboriginal heritage. </p>
<p>Indigenous <a href="https://nit.com.au/30-07-2021/2204/proposed-heritage-law-an-abuse-of-human-rights-says-kado-muir">leaders</a> remain deeply concerned that tragic incidents such as Juukan Gorge could happen again.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/was-new-aboriginal-heritage-act-keeps-mining-interests-ahead-of-the-culture-and-wishes-of-traditional-owners-173239">WA's new Aboriginal Heritage Act keeps mining interests ahead of the culture and wishes of Traditional Owners</a>
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<img alt="People protest the Juukan Gorge destruction" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498391/original/file-20221201-16-cw8scj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498391/original/file-20221201-16-cw8scj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498391/original/file-20221201-16-cw8scj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498391/original/file-20221201-16-cw8scj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498391/original/file-20221201-16-cw8scj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498391/original/file-20221201-16-cw8scj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498391/original/file-20221201-16-cw8scj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Juukan Gorge destruction was a tragedy for traditional owners, all Australians and humanity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Wainwright/AAP</span></span>
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<h2>What does the future hold?</h2>
<p>To avoid a dual climate and cultural catastrophe, First Nations groups in Australia and elsewhere are joining forces and making their voices heard on the world stage.</p>
<p>At this year’s <a href="https://cop27.eg/#/">COP27</a> climate conference, the International Indigenous Peoples <a href="http://www.iipfcc.org/home">Forum</a> on Climate Change hosted an Indigenous <a href="https://www.iipfccpavilion.org/">pavilion</a> in the “<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=blue+zone+cop27&form=ANNH01&refig=e5a6f45a911a469c8091f7125c5e1dfe">blue zone</a>”, where advocates gather to network and discuss important issues. Such global First Nations <a href="https://nit.com.au/13-11-2022/4305/global-first-nations-solidarity-vital-to-climate-fight-national-native-title-council-head-at-cop27">solidarity</a> is becoming vital in the fight against climate change and achieving a <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_ent/documents/publication/wcms_860607.pdf">just energy transition</a>.</p>
<p>Indigenous peoples must also have access to the latest data and information – including what future mineral wealth lies on their lands. This is one practical step towards addressing power imbalances.</p>
<p>Solutions to the climate crisis must be found, and energy transition minerals are an important part of the puzzle. However, First Nations aspirations for maintaining the natural and cultural integrity of their lands and territories, and participating in decisions about mining, must be at the forefront. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-climate-change-activists-can-learn-from-first-nations-campaigns-against-the-fossil-fuel-industry-165869">What climate change activists can learn from First Nations campaigns against the fossil fuel industry</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195438/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deanna is chief investigator of an ARC Linkage grant on public-private inquiries in mining; member of the International Council of Mining and Metals (expert review panel; and trustee and member of the international advisory council for the Institute of Human Rights and Business. She is Director of the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining at The University of Queensland. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Owen is a co-investigator of an ARC Linkage grant on public-private inquiries in mining. He is an Honorary Professor with the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining at the University of Queensland and Visiting Professor with the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kado Muir is a traditional owner and native title holder in the deserts of Western Australia. He is chair of the National Native Council and co-chair of the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance. Kado is a two way knowledge practitioner as custodian of Ngalia cultural heritage and traditional ecological knowledge merged with his anthropological training he is a leading Australian ethnoecologist.</span></em></p>Energy transition minerals are essential to tackling climate change. But First Nations people must have a genuine say in where and how this happens.Deanna Kemp, Professor and Director, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, The University of QueenslandJohn Owen, Professorial Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandKado Muir, Chair of National Native Title Council and Ngalia Cultural Leader | EthnoEcologist, Indigenous KnowledgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1871722022-08-03T05:58:48Z2022-08-03T05:58:48ZPacific nations are extraordinarily rich in critical minerals. But mining them may take a terrible toll<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477323/original/file-20220803-24-12ssaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=336%2C171%2C4250%2C2913&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Plundering the Pacific for its rich natural resources has a long pedigree. Think of the European companies <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-rise-of-nauru-can-the-island-bounce-back-from-its-mining-boom-and-bust-62419">strip-mining Nauru</a> for its phosphate and leaving behind a moonscape. </p>
<p>There are worrying signs history may be about to repeat, as global demand soars for minerals critical to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9">clean energy transition</a>. This demand is creating pressure to extract more minerals from the sensitive lands and seabeds across the Pacific. Pacific leaders may be attracted by the prospect of royalties and economic development – but there will be a price to pay in environmental damage.</p>
<p>As our <a href="https://jtpac.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/">new research shows</a>, this dilemma has often been ignored due to the urgency of the green transition. But if we fail to address the social and environmental costs of extraction, the transition will not be fair.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="exhausted phosphate mine Nauru" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Around 80% of Nauru’s surface was strip-mined for phosphate, leaving a moonscape behind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span>
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<h2>Trouble in paradise: climate change and globalisation</h2>
<p>Nations across the Pacific now face a double threat: climate change and the consequences of extractive industries. Rising sea levels, more powerful cyclones and droughts <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-and-the-future-of-our-pacific-neighbours-4512">threaten low-lying nations</a>, while the legacy of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/07/mining-in-the-pacific-a-blessing-and-a-curse">worst effects</a> of global resource extraction industries lives on. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-islands-are-back-on-the-map-and-climate-action-is-not-negotiable-for-would-be-allies-187086">Pacific Islands are back on the map, and climate action is not negotiable for would-be allies</a>
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<p>Now they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/23/minings-new-frontier-pacific-nations-caught-in-the-rush-for-deep-sea-riches">face a resurgence</a>. You might not associate the small islands of the Pacific with mining, but the region contains enormous deposits of minerals and metals needed for the global energy transition. </p>
<p>Under the soils of New Caledonia lie between 10 and 30 per cent of the world’s known reserves of nickel, a critical component of the lithium-ion batteries which will power electric cars and stabilise renewable-heavy grids. In Papua New Guinea and Fiji there are vast <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.146">undeveloped copper reserves</a>. It’s estimated cobalt – another key battery component – is found in the deep sea around the Pacific in quantities <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02242-y">several times larger</a> than land resources. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="New Caledonia nickel" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">New Caledonia has huge resources of nickel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span>
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<p>Sensing this opportunity, miners from Australia, China and elsewhere are lining up to take advantage of global demand while positioning themselves as vital contributors to climate action. </p>
<p>You might think this is a win-win – the world gets critical minerals, and the Pacific gets royalties. While some Pacific nations like Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia see an opportunity for economic development, the problem is that historically, many Pacific states have struggled to <a href="http://doi.org/10.22459/AP.2021">control the excesses</a> of the extractive industries and convert their natural mineral wealth into broad based human development.</p>
<p>Yes, building low-carbon energy systems to power a low-carbon economy will require vast amounts of minerals and metals for new technologies and energy infrastructure. </p>
<p>But supplying these resources shouldn’t <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-clean-energy-means-more-mines-we-shouldnt-sacrifice-communities-in-the-name-of-climate-action-170938">come at the expense</a> of communities and environments.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deep-sea-mining-may-wipe-out-species-we-have-only-just-discovered-173558">Deep-sea mining may wipe out species we have only just discovered</a>
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<p><a href="https://jtpac.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/">Our research</a> reveals that extractive projects planned or underway in the Pacific are located in some of the world’s most <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/4200/Just-transitions-justice-dimensions-extracting-energy-metals-pacific.pdf">complex and volatile</a> environmental, social and governance conditions in the world.</p>
<p>Think of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-30/honiaras-deadly-riots-echo-ethnic-tensions-of-20-years-ago/100658298">historic and current tensions</a> in Solomon Islands or the separatist movement <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-papua-bougainville-idUSKBN1XV0KE">radicalised by mining</a> in Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville region. Increased pressure to mine in combustible regions is risky. </p>
<h2>Will this place pressure on Pacific unity?</h2>
<p>Pacific leaders understand these risks. At last month’s forum, they endorsed a new <a href="https://www.forumsec.org/2050strategy/">30 year strategy</a> for the Pacific, which speaks to this double bind. The strategy declares the urgent need to act on climate while also calling for careful stewardship of the region’s natural resources to boost socio-economic growth and improve the lives of their citizens. </p>
<p>Tourism campaigns by Pacific nations often show pictures of happy people in lush environments. But the reality is much of the region is <a href="http://doi.org/10.22459/UE.2020">chronically unequal</a>. </p>
<p>Many Pacific leaders want development opportunities and resent being told what to do with their natural resources by the leaders of developed nations. Others, however, are concerned about the damage mining may do to their environment. </p>
<p>This emerging divide is why dreams of regional unity remain elusive. Despite calls for a unified Pacific voice, different leaders have very different views about mining. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Underwater coral reef" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pacific seas have mineral wealth - and sensitive ecosystems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span>
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<p>In recent months, we’ve seen the Federated States of Micronesia join Samoa, Fiji and Palau in calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining, while Nauru, Tonga, Kiribati and Cook Islands have already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/14/csiro-joins-deep-sea-mining-project-in-pacific-as-islands-call-for-industry-halt">backed seabed projects</a>.</p>
<p>In February this year, Cook Islands <a href="https://www.sbma.gov.ck/">granted three licences</a> to explore for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0027-0">polymetallic nodules</a> – lucrative lumps of multiple metals – in the seas to which they have <a href="https://www.maraemoana.gov.ck/about-marae-moana/eez-and-fishing/#:%7E:text=The%20Cook%20Islands%20Exclusive%20Economic,masses%20is%20divided%20in%20two.">exclusive economic rights</a>. </p>
<p>You can see the appeal – an estimated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.09.010">8.9 billion tons</a> of nodules lie strewn around the ocean floor. These deposits are worth an estimated $A14.4 trillion. Trillion, not billion. This is the world’s largest and richest known resource of polymetallic nodules within a sovereign territory, and a massive share of the world’s currently known cobalt resources. </p>
<p>These nodules are so rich in four essential metals needed for batteries (cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese) that they are often called “a battery in a rock”.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the Papua New Guinean government is <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-can-help-ensure-the-biggest-mine-in-pngs-history-wont-leave-a-toxic-legacy-185580">considering</a> enormous new gold and copper mines which lie in ecologically and socially vulnerable areas. Locals, environmentalists and experts have already sounded warnings over a project planned at the headwaters of the untouched Sepik River. No one wants to see a repeat of the Ok Tedi <a href="https://theconversation.com/ok-tedi-immunity-gone-with-implications-beyond-bhp-19188">mining disaster</a>. </p>
<p>Similar debates are raging over whether to reopen the <a href="https://www.hrlc.org.au/reports/2021/7/1/after-the-mine-living-with-rio-tintos-deadly-legacy">lucrative but disastrous</a> Panguna copper mine on Bougainville Island, as local leaders look for ways to fund their <a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n3901/pdf/ch12.pdf">forthcoming independence</a> from Papua New Guinea. </p>
<h2>Policymakers must pay attention</h2>
<p>To date, Australian policymakers have not considered the risks of huge new mining operations across the Pacific. In part, this is because some of these mines are framed as a key way to tackle climate change, the largest threat to the region. </p>
<p>This has to change. Action on climate change is vital – but the Pacific’s peoples must actually benefit from the mining of their resources. If this mineral rush isn’t done carefully, we could see the profits disappear overseas – and the environmental mess left behind for Pacific nations to deal with. </p>
<p>This challenge comes at a time of heightened geostrategic competition, as China moves into the region seeking influence and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/31/the-3bn-bargain-how-china-dominates-pacific-mining-logging-and-fishing">raw materials</a> ranging from wood to fish to minerals. </p>
<p>If Australia’s new government is serious about using its sizeable regional influence to tackle climate change in the Pacific, it must ensure it is done justly and fairly. We must focus our policy attentions on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2163">complicated knot</a> of clean energy and intensified mining. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-clean-energy-means-more-mines-we-shouldnt-sacrifice-communities-in-the-name-of-climate-action-170938">More clean energy means more mines – we shouldn't sacrifice communities in the name of climate action</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Bainton received funding for this reseach from the British Academy. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emilka Skrzypek received funding for this research from the British Academy.</span></em></p>For centuries, Pacific Islands have been raided by mining interests with little to show for it. Harnessing their enormous green mineral wealth must be done justly.Nick Bainton, Associate Professor, The University of QueenslandEmilka Skrzypek, Senior Policy Fellow, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1788622022-03-15T12:16:22Z2022-03-15T12:16:22ZSmall oil producers like Ghana, Guyana and Suriname could gain as buyers shun Russian crude<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451928/original/file-20220314-118290-sywzv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C2485%2C1665&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman sells drinks on a street in Georgetown in Guyana, one of South America's poorest countries, March 1, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-sells-water-and-soda-in-a-street-stall-in-georgetown-news-photo/1204536568">Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/07/business/russia-us-trade-relations.html">U.S.</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/eu-phase-out-russian-gas-oil-coal-imports-leaders-draft-2022-03-07/">Europe</a> cut back purchases of Russian oil, and energy traders <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/03/investing/russia-oil-sanctions-ukraine/index.html">shun it for fear of sanctions</a>, the search is on for other sources. Attention has focused on <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/08/politics/joe-biden-saudi-arabia-venezuela-iran-russia-oil/index.html">Iran and Venezuela</a>, both of which are led by governments that the U.S. sought until recently to isolate. But emerging and less-developed producers could also play roles. </p>
<p>Among the world’s <a href="https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/petroleum-and-other-liquids/annual-petroleum-and-other-liquids-production">many oil-producing countries</a>, a few are positioned to jump the list and become increasingly active. They include the West African nation of Ghana (No. 33), along with Guyana (No. 42) and Suriname (No. 69), two small adjoining countries on the north Atlantic coast of South America. All three nations have become oil producers within the past 12 years, working with large companies like <a href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/News/Newsroom/News-releases/2022/0105_ExxonMobil-makes-two-discoveries-offshore-Guyana">ExxonMobil</a>, <a href="https://www.tullowoil.com/our-operations/africa/ghana/">Tullow Ltd</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/suriname-state-oil-firm-chevron-sign-offshore-oil-output-sharing-contract-2021-10-13/">Chevron</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/business/energy-environment/suriname-oil-discovery.html">Apache, Total and Royal Dutch Shell</a>. </p>
<p>I study factors that influence <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennapher-lunde-seefeldt-455a52113/">levels of democracy and social justice within nations</a>, especially as they relate to natural resources and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12365">economic structures</a>. As I see it, these newer producers are in a unique position compared to other oil-exporting nations, such as Nigeria and Ecuador. </p>
<p>In too many cases, developing nations opening their economies to oil production have been expected to accept the terms companies demand, with little room for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/nov/09/a-wealth-of-sorrow-why-nigerias-abundant-oil-reserves-are-really-a-curse">negotiation</a> and <a href="https://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/kimerling.pdf">continued</a> <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2021/11/24/nigerias-petroleum-industry-act-addressing-old-problems-creating-new-ones/">exploitation of host communities</a>. In contrast, Guyana, Suriname and Ghana are better situated to obtain favorable terms. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qNUuIA1Pam8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Social scientists coined the term “resource curse” to describe countries that are rich in natural resources such as oil, but have poor economic growth or development. One challenge for these nations is negotiating equitable deals with foreign investors.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Striking better deals</h2>
<p>As world markets grapple with the current oil price shock, niche producers are in especially favorable positions to secure advantageous contracts and more favorable terms from international energy companies. For example, oil companies typically pay host countries royalties on their revenues that average <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/business/energy-environment/suriname-oil-discovery.html">about 16%</a>. To date, Guyana and Suriname have accepted fees of less than 6.5% in an effort to attract investors. Under current conditions, they may be able to ask for more during new contract negotiations. </p>
<p>Oil production started in Guyana in late 2019, and currently the country produces over <a href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/News/Newsroom/News-releases/2022/0211_ExxonMobil-starts-production-at-Guyanas-second-offshore-development">340,000 barrels per day</a>. Guyana learned from its first block contract with ExxonMobil to demand more “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2020/08/20/guyanas-new-government-makes-plans-for-more-demands-on-exxonmobil/">local content</a>” – a key condition in oil negotiations that refers to hiring local workers and using locally made goods and equipment. Natural resources minister Vickram Bharrat has called that agreement, made by a previous administration, “one of the worst ever between a government and an oil company,” and Guyanese officials say they <a href="https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2299461-guyana-seeks-bigger-take-from-new-oil-contracts">will seek more-favorable terms in future agreements</a>. </p>
<p>Suriname’s new offshore oil discoveries offer potential. Small operations are currently producing about <a href="https://oilnow.gy/featured/suriname-oil-discoveries-estimated-at-1-4-billion-barrels-rystad-energy/">20,000 barrels per day</a>, and major projects are <a href="https://www.worldoil.com/magazine/2021/may-2021/features/guyana-suriname-basin-rise-from-obscurity-to-super-potential">expected to start by 2025</a>. </p>
<p>Suriname is <a href="https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/12/23/suriname-does-continuous-reviews-of-companies-oil-spill-response-plans/">demanding increased insurance</a> from oil companies in the event of an oil spill, along with prepared emergency cleanup procedures. These processes are continually reviewed and criticized, keeping companies on their toes. </p>
<p>Ghana started oil development in 2007 and now produces about <a href="https://hawilti.com/uncategorized/ghana-bets-on-higher-oil-revenues-despite-production-decline-over-2022-2025/">163,000 barrels per day</a>. However, ExxonMobil pulled out of the country in 2021, reportedly to <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/98380/exxons-exit-from-ghana-may-be-first-sign-of-majors-quitting-africa/">focus on higher-value projects elsewhere</a>, and depressed demand during the COVID-19 pandemic cut into Ghana’s oil exports. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451909/original/file-20220314-19-1co98vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Men on an offshore oil platform in coveralls and helmets, smiling" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451909/original/file-20220314-19-1co98vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451909/original/file-20220314-19-1co98vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451909/original/file-20220314-19-1co98vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451909/original/file-20220314-19-1co98vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451909/original/file-20220314-19-1co98vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451909/original/file-20220314-19-1co98vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451909/original/file-20220314-19-1co98vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Ghanaian President John Atta Mills turns a valve to symbolically open oil production in the Jubilee field off Ghana’s west coast, Dec. 15, 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ghanaian-president-john-atta-mills-turns-the-valve-to-flag-news-photo/107606452">Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span>
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<p>Now, Ghana’s national oil company, Ghana National Petroleum Corp., is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-18/ghana-s-gnpc-on-acquisition-drive-to-better-control-oil-assets">taking a larger role</a>, buying shares in oil fields from companies like Occidental Petroleum. Greater state involvement is raising uncertainty about how much access Ghana will offer to foreign oil companies. Some, including Tullow Oil and Aker Energy, are producing there now, but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/09/tullow-oil-shares-ghana-stock-market-value">Tullow’s shares have plummeted</a> in recent years, and there has been speculation that it may leave Ghana.</p>
<h2>Managing oil income</h2>
<p>Nations and states that produce oil or other natural resources often put their royalties into <a href="https://www.swfinstitute.org/research/sovereign-wealth-fund">sovereign wealth funds</a> instead of simply adding them to general treasury funds. A sovereign wealth fund is essentially a rainy day pot that the government can use in times of economic stress to continue funding major priorities, such as infrastructure projects and social programs. </p>
<p>Some of these funds, notably in <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/norwegians-millionaires-norways-sovereign-wealth-fund/story?id=21488085">Norway</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20181220-why-alaska-sends-each-resident-a-cheque-in-the-mail">Alaska</a>, have produced significant benefits for residents. However, some experts argue that they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102048">aren’t necessarily well suited for developing nations</a>.</p>
<p>According to this view, the success of these funds <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/17313">depends on many hard-to-control variables</a>, such as whether the country has a diversified economy, its level of corruption and global events like commodity price collapses. And managing the funds <a href="https://globalswf.com/news/png-s-struggle-to-establish-swf-illustrates-challenges-facing-resource-rich-least-developed-countries">requires significant technical skills</a>. </p>
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<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02646811.2017.1329120">Ghana</a> created an Oil Heritage Fund in 2011, and <a href="https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Guyana-Votes-To-Set-Up-Oil-Wealth-Fund.html">Guyana</a> and <a href="https://suriname-energy.com/en/article/top-three-things-suriname-must-learn-guyanas-oil-boom">Suriname</a> are in the process of doing so. All three may need assistance to manage these funds effectively and maximize benefits for their citizens.</p>
<h2>Transparency and peer support</h2>
<p>Recognizing that it can be challenging for developing countries to negotiate with major corporate investors, a number of nongovernmental organizations have become active in this sector. One that’s particularly relevant to oil production is the <a href="https://eiti.org/About">Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative</a>, which seeks to publicize information about extraction practices, contracts, taxing and spending processes, and more. This benefits the public by tracking where revenue goes and promoting accountability. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.newproducersgroup.online/what-we-do/">New Producers Group</a> works to help countries manage resources effectively through peer-to-peer relationships and knowledge exchange. Emerging producers can learn from other nations’ experiences and collaborate with other governments on issues that affect them all. For example, the organization has held several events recently, analyzing <a href="https://www.newproducersgroup.online/event/cop26-side-event-climate-change-and-new-petroleum-producing-countries/">what the global transition away from fossil fuels means for emerging oil producers</a>, and how these countries can manage the transition while working to end poverty.</p>
<p>As members of both organizations, Ghana, Guyana and Suriname have access to tools that many early producers did not. All three countries have participated in <a href="https://www.newproducersgroup.online/members-area/">multilateral meetings and exchanges</a> with peers and <a href="https://eiti.org/public-benefit">shared information</a> with local citizens. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJyCPEEgdoo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Keeping the public informed helps to hold government officials and corporations accountable and promotes public involvement. Citizens and civil society watchdogs <a href="https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/in-depth-guyanas-oil-makes-the-case-for-publishing-public-contracts">criticized</a> ExxonMobil’s first contract in Guyana for not including citizen feedback and being created behind closed doors. </p>
<p>Public involvement and transparency also reduce the potential for corruption, a common problem in resource-rich nations. Transparency International’s <a href="https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021">Corruption Perceptions Index</a> measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in nations worldwide. On a scale with 100 as the worst score, Guyana and Suriname scored 39 and Ghana scored 43, so all three states have significant room for improvement. </p>
<p>As the world slowly transitions away from fossil fuels, emerging producers are acutely aware of the need to seize the moment for development’s sake, but also seek to meet climate change pledges. Guyana and Suriname may have an <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/30258/to-develop-oil-guyana-and-suriname-could-set-back-climate-goals">asset</a> in the fight against climate change: dense forests that can absorb large quantities of carbon, helping to offset emissions. </p>
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<p>Guyana has unveiled a <a href="https://www.thedialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/LEA211119.pdf">Low Carbon Development Strategy for 2030</a> and has <a href="https://www.stabroeknews.com/2022/02/19/news/guyana/guyana-looking-to-market-at-least-8m-carbon-credits-by-july/">partnered with Norway to generate carbon credits</a> for protecting its forests. I see partnerships like these as ways to advance environmental goals alongside the social and economic development that these nations desperately need.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178862/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennapher Lunde Seefeldt is affiliated with American Political Science Association. </span></em></p>Buyers are avoiding Russian oil in response to the war in Ukraine. Can smaller producers leverage this moment to strike favorable deals with big oil companies?Jennapher Lunde Seefeldt, Assistant Professor of Government and International Affairs, Augustana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1624132021-06-23T12:24:02Z2021-06-23T12:24:02ZHow Vladimir Putin uses natural gas to exert Russian influence and punish his enemies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407244/original/file-20210618-22-1e9qelu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5568%2C3667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pipes for Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are loaded onto a ship at a German port, June 1, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/june-2021-mecklenburg-western-pomerania-putbus-pipes-for-news-photo/1233216507">Stefan Sauer/picture alliance via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent U.S.-Russia summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin suggests that a controversial Russian natural gas pipeline, <a href="https://www.gazprom.com/projects/nord-stream2/">Nord Stream 2</a>, is a done deal. </p>
<p>If completed as planned by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-nord-stream-2-completion/gazprom-chairman-says-nord-stream-2-gas-pipeline-to-be-finished-this-year-despite-u-s-pressure-tass-idUSKBN2BI1G7">the end of this year</a>, Nord Stream 2 will convey 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea and thence to the rest of Europe. It is expected to bring <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1119244/nord-stream-2-value-added-to-gdp-by-country/">US$3.2 billion</a> to Russia annually. </p>
<p>Construction had been halted for over a year by U.S. sanctions passed in 2019 on the pipeline’s construction and financing. Sanctions were <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-broadens-sanctions-to-thwart-completion-of-russian-gas-pipeline-11603193032?mod=article_relatedinline">later expanded in 2020</a>. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/08/politics/biden-putin-summit-us-ambassador/index.html">Some Russia experts</a> expected those sanctions to be a <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/a-pipeline-deal-could-help-end-putins-ukraine-war/">bargaining chip for Biden at the recent Geneva summit to pressure Putin</a> over Russian occupation of territories in Ukraine and Georgia; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-leader-flies-into-russia-talks-with-putin-amid-uproar-over-air-piracy-2021-05-28/">support for Belarus’ dictatorial regime</a>; violation of human rights within Russia; and the <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-fsb-poisoning-poet/31300656.html">poisoning, jailing</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/09/world/russia-navalny-groups-extremists-intl/index.html">outlawing of political opposition</a>. </p>
<p>Instead, a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-waive-sanctions-firm-ceo-behind-russias-nord-stream-2-pipeline-source-2021-05-19/">month before the summit, the White House</a> lifted sanctions on Nord Stream 2, dismaying <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-comes-under-fire-congress-after-waiving-sanctions-russian-gas-n1267975">some U.S. legislators</a> and <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukrainians-fear-betrayal-over-putins-pipeline/">U.S. partners</a> <a href="https://kafkadesk.org/2021/05/21/poland-angered-by-us-president-bidens-nord-stream-ii-decision/">in Europe</a>. </p>
<p>The pipeline project is a <a href="https://www.nord-stream2.com/company/shareholder-and-financial-investors/">joint venture between</a> a handful of European gas companies and Russian giant Gazprom, a majority state-owned company that is the largest gas supplier in the world. For Putin, the pipeline is an opportunity to increase his influence in Europe by deepening the region’s dependence on Russian energy. </p>
<p>Natural gas has been the bedrock of Putin’s power both <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=9s2NCgAAQBAJ&lpg=PR11&ots=ivm6gRqcHu&lr&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false">domestically</a> and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=9VreAGr8sk4C&lpg=PR7&ots=UqznWme4Xv&dq=putin%20and%20gas%20&lr&pg=PR7#v=onepage&q=putin%20and%20gas&f=false">internationally</a> for decades. Nord Stream 2 gives the Russian leader a new direct and powerful line of control in Western Europe. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407255/original/file-20210618-21-16dz7w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Vladimir Putin (left) and Joe Biden (right) stand in front of a door. Putin is facing the camera with a neutral expression. Biden is turned slightly to the left to look at Putin." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407255/original/file-20210618-21-16dz7w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407255/original/file-20210618-21-16dz7w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407255/original/file-20210618-21-16dz7w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407255/original/file-20210618-21-16dz7w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407255/original/file-20210618-21-16dz7w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407255/original/file-20210618-21-16dz7w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407255/original/file-20210618-21-16dz7w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Biden and Putin had a tense if cordial meeting in Geneva.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/russian-president-vladimir-putin-and-us-president-joe-biden-news-photo/1233483765">Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How Putin controls Russian oil</h2>
<p>Since taking office in 2000, Putin began seizing control of the Russian gas and oil industry. He <a href="https://www.companieshistory.com/gazprom/">renationalized Gazprom</a>, the state oil company that had been privatized after the fall of the Soviet Union. </p>
<p>Scholarly research has demonstrated that regaining government <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9VreAGr8sk4C&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=pertostate+Russia&ots=Uqzn-nc5Sv&sig=Fo-gM0mZX4V9DTSb4yOR3AKenlM#v=onepage&q=pertostate%20Russia&f=false">control over the gas and oil industry</a> contributed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.12.018">consolidation of authoritarianism</a> in Russia. And it coincided with crackdowns on Putin’s political opposition. </p>
<p>In 2003 Mikhail Khodorkovsky, owner of the Yukos oil company and a <a href="https://khodorkovsky.com/biography/falling-afoul-of-the-kremlin/">vocal critic of Putin’s growing authoritarianism</a>, became the regime’s first famous political prisoner, after he was arrested at gunpoint and imprisoned for 10 years for tax evasion. Yukos was eventually seized by the government and absorbed into the state-owned companies.</p>
<p>By the end of his first term in office in 2004, Putin’s government had significant control over oil and gas production in Russia, which is the one of <a href="https://www.eia.gov/international/overview/country/RUS">largest producers and exporters in the world</a>. Proceeds collected from oil and gas sales allowed Putin to pay for his domestic agenda and boost military spending. It also gave him <a href="https://doi.org/10.2753/PPC1075-8216550401">extraordinary leverage</a> over neighboring countries that relied on Russia for their energy needs. </p>
<p>For example, in <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/new-era-gas-wars-between-ukraine-and-russia">2006 and 2009</a>, when the Ukrainian government adopted more pro-Western policies and upset the Kremlin, Russia outright <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7806870.stm">shut off the country’s gas supply</a> – and by extension, shut off the gas of countries down the supply line in Central and Western Europe, including Germany.</p>
<h2>Russia versus Europe</h2>
<p>As a direct line of supply from Russia to Europe, Nord Stream 2 could avoid such problems for Western Europe in the future. But it also opens Western Europe to the same kind of <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/what-will-the-impact-be-if-nord-stream-2-is-completed/">direct Russian pressure</a> it has used to punish Ukraine. So the proposed pipeline has been divisive.</p>
<p>Nord Stream 2 has already produced a <a href="https://ecfr.eu/article/the-nord-stream-2-dispute-and-the-transatlantic-alliance/">rift between NATO allies</a>, even before its completion. </p>
<p>Sweden, Poland and the Baltic countries, for example, <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2021/03/31/putins-pipeline-of-aggression-how-the-nord-stream-2-threatens-the-west/">have all raised concerns</a>, citing environmental problems related to construction and maintenance of the pipeline. They worry that Russia will use its new pipeline infrastructure to increase its military naval presence in the Baltic Sea. That would increase Russia’s intelligence-gathering capacity. </p>
<p>Further “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdynrvhDXow">crumbling NATO</a>,” as Putin puts it – sowing divisions in the alliance – would be a win for his regime. </p>
<p>The Russian leader sees NATO, which he calls a Cold War relic, as the greatest threat to Russian security. Disunity in Europe allows Russia to continue pursuing political repression of its own citizens and territorial aggression against neighboring nations with less foreign interference.</p>
<h2>Ukraine’s dilemma</h2>
<p>For Ukraine, Nord Stream 2 presents both a security and financial threat.</p>
<p>Ukraine largely <a href="https://pgjonline.com/news/2020/08-august/ukraine-says-no-plans-to-resume-gas-purchases-from-russia">stopped buying gas from Russia</a> in 2015 following Russia’s <a href="https://ua.usembassy.gov/seven-years-of-illegal-occupation-of-the-autonomous-republic-of-crimea/">2014 annexation</a> of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and support for a <a href="https://microsites-live-backend.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-ukraine">still-deadly Russian-sponsored separatist war in Donbas</a>, in eastern Ukraine. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407257/original/file-20210618-25-i5tfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Russian military vehicles lined up on the road for military drills." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407257/original/file-20210618-25-i5tfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407257/original/file-20210618-25-i5tfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407257/original/file-20210618-25-i5tfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407257/original/file-20210618-25-i5tfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407257/original/file-20210618-25-i5tfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407257/original/file-20210618-25-i5tfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407257/original/file-20210618-25-i5tfig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Russian military drill in April 2021 in Crimea, a former territory of Ukraine that was annexed by Russia in 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/USRussiaSummitNervousAllies/4b7fc2596433463a83e0aac951d64d2a">AP Photo/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, Ukraine still collects up to <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/volodimir-zelenskij-pid-chas-zustrichi-z-senatorami-ssha-piv-68781">US$3 billion in annual fees</a> because Russian gas currently runs through a pipeline in Ukrainian territory to get to Europe.</p>
<p>Nord Stream 2 will deprive Ukraine of this income. According to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the money lost in gas transit fees will mean Ukraine will have “<a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/volodimir-zelenskij-pid-chas-zustrichi-z-senatorami-ssha-piv-68781">nothing to pay for the Ukrainian army</a>” to defend Ukraine from further Russian aggression. </p>
<p>In April 2021, observers documented a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-military-build-up-near-ukraine-numbers-more-than-150000-troops-eus-2021-04-19/">build-up of Russian military</a> at Ukraine’s border with Russia, as well as in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/russia-orders-soldiers-back-from-ukraine-border-after-weeks-of-tension/a-57288083">Russian military pulled back after a few weeks</a>, but there is evidence that some 80,000 Russian troops remain near Ukraine, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/us/politics/biden-putin-russia-ukraine.html">along with military equipment</a>, including trucks and armored vehicles.</p>
<p>Zelensky says the pipeline has become a “<a href="https://www.axios.com/zelensky-biden-ukraine-russia-nord-stream-pipeline-fe50756b-6b82-43f0-b390-734ea3e95de0.html">real weapon</a>” against Ukraine. In Kyiv, fears are that once Russia stops relying on Ukraine for transit to Europe, Putin will begin to <a href="https://euobserver.com/world/152059">exert more pressure</a> on the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56678665">Ukrainian government</a> over the warring Donbas region or resume military aggression. </p>
<p>The risk may not be worth the reward of <a href="https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/gas-pipeline-nord-stream-2-links-germany-russia-splits-europe">cheaper gas prices</a> for European consumers. The economic boost that Russia will likely receive from capturing the European gas market will further enrich Putin’s kleptocratic regime – and, history shows, finance his undemocratic projects in Eastern Europe and beyond.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lena Surzhko Harned does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline that will deliver Russian gas to Western Europe – and, by extension, increase Putin’s influence across the continent. That makes Ukraine and some other countries nervous.Lena Surzhko Harned, Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1114722019-04-22T17:47:17Z2019-04-22T17:47:17ZUsing maps as a weapon to resist extractive industries on Indigenous territories<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269619/original/file-20190416-147483-kfekp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Maps can be a tool in the defense of Indigenous communities against extractive industries.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/issues/2/what-the-future-looked-like/32752/1954-power">Canadian Centre for Architecture; Grant Tigner, painter. Seagrams Limited, publisher. The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project, in The St. Lawrence Seaway: The Realization of a Mighty Dream, 1954. </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For Indigenous peoples across the Americas, urgent threats imposed by the industrial extraction of natural resources has characterized the 21st century. The expansion of industry has threatened Indigenous territories, cultures and sovereignty. These industries include: <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2325548X.2015.1050761">timber and pulp extraction</a>, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ri_TAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Subterranean+Struggles:+New+Dynamics+of+Mining,+Oil+and+Gas+in+Latin+America&ots=eTRrQzUUJJ&sig=AA5Rfz4MEMtYmdEYynPBQehj9ac#v=onepage&q=Subterranean%20Struggles%3A%20New%20Dynamics%20of%20Mining%2C%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20in%20Latin%20America&f=false">mining</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230368798_1">oil and gas</a> and <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Alae0xoELNMC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Power+from+the+North:+Territory,+Identity,+and+the+Culture+of+Hydroelectricity+in+Quebec&ots=tARJesDzJc&sig=r1OhUpZGlBLhih2S8yAAzxngVeU#v=onepage&q=Power%20from%20the%20North%3A%20Territory%2C%20Identity%2C%20and%20the%20Culture%20of%20Hydroelectricity%20in%20Quebec&f=false">hydroelectric development</a>. As well, the <a href="https://www.proc-int-cartogr-assoc.net/1/71/2018/">extraction of human beings</a> from their lands has real implications for the survival of communities.</p>
<p>The debate of territory is essential in these <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sknCvaxqXn8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=The+new+resource+wars:+Native+and+environmental+struggles+against+multinational+corporations&ots=29zI5o4B_5&sig=RP3c-lSC2yn0FrWtqR-rm-vB-jc#v=onepage&q=The%20new%20resource%20wars%3A%20Native%20and%20environmental%20struggles%20against%20multinational%20corporations&f=false">resource conflicts</a>. Maps — and those who make and shape them — are central to the discussion of land rights, especially when it comes to industrial resource extraction and Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>Our project, <a href="http://mappingback.org/">MappingBack</a>, envisions mapping as a weapon and tactic to resist extractive industries. We see it as an excellent way to express complex Indigenous perspectives and relationships with the land.</p>
<h2>Maps as resistance</h2>
<p>There is a long history of the use of maps and cartographic techniques by countries and governments <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120429">to claim ownership over Indigenous territories</a>. But since the 1990s, Indigenous communities have been deploying mapping tactics as a mode of <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/missing-murdered-native-women_us_5beb0e48e4b044bbb1a99db0">Indigenous resistance</a>, resurgence and education. These tactics use historical memory and ancestral knowledge to assert territorial rights and community visioning. </p>
<p>Indigenous communities have either led or collaborated with multiple players to launch a broad array of <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/ethnographicmapping/projects/index.php">mapping projects</a> as a way of reclaiming ownership on the multiple aspects of their territories. These projects range from low-tech <a href="https://vimeo.com/88688016">community mapping</a> approaches to the use of the <a href="https://gcrc.carleton.ca/index.html?module=module.gcrcatlas_atlases">latest online web mapping technologies</a>. </p>
<p>Some academics have criticized these cartographic practices because of the continued <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/carto.47.2.77">subordination of Indigenous spatial world-views to western technologies</a> and histories. It is time to revisit these dominant mapping representations and conventional processes so that we can present different conceptions of the world. Representing these different conceptions calls for supporting the development of <a href="https://aeon.co/videos/native-cartography-a-bold-mapmaking-project-that-challenges-western-notions-of-place">Indigenous cartographic languages</a>. </p>
<p>Indigenous peoples conceive the diverse range of Indigenous territories as spaces of living relations; they are homelands since the beginning of creation; they are the reserve lands of forced resettlement, or they are spaces of refuge away from the violence and pressures of settler societies. </p>
<h2>MappingBack: A virtual community</h2>
<p>In 2017, MappingBack organized <a href="http://mappingback.org/project/mappingback-2017-workshop/">a three-day workshop in Montréal</a> that brought together 35 participants to collectively exchange ideas about mapping in Indigenous‐extractives conflicts. The discussion at the seminar helped to form the foundation of an online Indigenous mapping platform.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The MappingBack platform is a tool to resist the industrial extraction of natural resources on Indigenous territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://mappingback.org/home_en/resources/">MappingBack project</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The participants were members of Indigenous communities engaged with the representation of territory, cartographers interested in alternative forms of spatial expressions and researchers and practitioners with expertise on extractive industries.</p>
<p>These different players worked together to challenge and explore forms of cartographic expressions to represent multiple issues, perceptions, meanings, histories and emotions that are at stake when industrial extraction enters Indigenous territories. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Participants of the MappingBack workshop in Montréal, Oct. 15, 2017.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“<a href="http://mappingback.org/">Mappingback – Indigenous Cartographies of Extractive Industries,</a>” grew into an online platform from those three days: it is a virtual collective space where Indigenous communities and allies can share their experiences and expertise related to mapping resource conflicts. Communities can also access experiences, stories and mapping tactics developed by others to fight against extractive industries on their homelands.</p>
<p>In developing MappingBack, we were inspired by the <a href="https://www.guerrillacartography.org/">Guerilla Cartography</a>’s collectively produced <a href="http://www.guerrillacartography.org/">atlases</a>. They aim to create a “new paradigm for cooperative and collaborative knowledge” to have a “transformative effect on the awareness and dissemination of spatial information.” </p>
<h2>Powerful collective knowledge</h2>
<p>The MappingBack platform helps to mobilize a broad range of alternative forms of spatial expression to serve the communities for public education and advocacy in defense of their territories.</p>
<p>We divided Mappingback into two main sections. <a href="http://mappingback.org/home_en/gallery/">Mapping Gallery</a> showcases a selection of mapping examples and processes designed with and by Indigenous communities. It includes maps designed during the 2017 Montréal workshop like <a href="http://mappingback.org/project/violation-and-restoration/">The Violation and Restoration Map</a> as well as other <a href="http://mappingback.org/project/mappingback-at-imw-2018/">examples crafted during</a> the <a href="https://www.indigenousmaps.com/2018imw/">2018 Indigenous Mapping Workshop</a>. Each example includes written or oral reflections about the mapping process. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Whose Land is it Anyway? (crafted by Charlotte Adams, Kaitlin Kok, Melissa Castron, Tom McGurk, Mary Kate Craig, Sébastien Caquard - Aug. 2018)</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://mappingback.org/home_en/resources/">Network, the second section of the platform,</a> offers a list of resources available for communities interested in using spatial representations to fight against extractive industries. </p>
<p>The resources have been mapped with <a href="https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/">uMap</a>, a free open source mapping application and include the names of Indigenous communities involved in fighting against extractive industries as well as a list of individuals indicating the expertise they are willing to contribute to the mapping project (Eg. GIS, legal, social or financial support).</p>
<p>Because some of the Indigenous communities involved in fighting against extractive industries have been exposed to high levels of threats and violence and have paid an expensive human cost, some of these resources will only be shared on a case by case scenario for privacy and security reasons.</p>
<p>MappingBack can support Indigenous perspectives on territories and resources through spatial representations. We hope it will serve Indigenous communities fighting against extractive industries. These fights are often at the forefront of broad and urgent environmental threats.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sébastien Caquard received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to work on this project </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annita Lucchesi, Leah Temper, and Thomas Mcgurk do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Historically, western corporate maps have been privileged over Indigenous ones. But given the essential debate of territory in resource conflicts, maps are a crucial tool.Sébastien Caquard, Associate Professor in Geography, Concordia UniversityAnnita Lucchesi, PhD student, University of LethbridgeDaviken Studnicki-Gizbert, Associate professor, Department of History, McGill UniversityLeah Temper, Research Associate, History and Classical Studies, McGill UniversityThomas Mcgurk, Lecturer, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1139952019-04-18T21:10:14Z2019-04-18T21:10:14ZEarth Day: Colonialism’s role in the overexploitation of natural resources<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270020/original/file-20190418-28110-hl4mnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mining is a highly destructive endeavour towards our environment but demand for gems and minerals is non-stop; early colonial relationships continue to define these industries. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are currently experiencing the worst <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn">environmental crisis</a> in human history, including a “biological annihilation” of wildlife and dire risks for the future of human civilization. </p>
<p>The scale of that environmental devastation has <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/05/rate-of-environmental-damage-increasing-across-planet-but-still-time-to-reverse-worst-impacts/">increased drastically</a> in recent years. Mostly to blame are anthropogenic, or human-generated factors, including the burning of <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/">fossil fuels</a> like coal and oil. </p>
<p>Other industries like gem and mineral mining also destroy the world’s ecological sustainability, leading to deforestation and the destruction of natural habitats. Much of this traumatic exploitation of natural resources traces its origins to early <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01916599.2012.716603">colonialism</a>. </p>
<p>Colonialists saw “new” territories as places with unlimited resources to exploit, with little consideration for the long-term impacts. They exploited what they considered to be an <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520246782/the-unending-frontier">“unending frontier”</a> at the service of early modern state-making and capitalist development. </p>
<p>To understand our current <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/climate/ipcc-climate-report-2040.html">ecological catastrophe</a>, described as “a world of worsening food shortages and wildfires, and a mass die-off of coral reefs as soon as 2040,” we need to look at the role of colonialism at its roots. </p>
<p>This exploration is not a debate over <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/dont-mistake-nostalgia-about-british-empire-scholarship">whether colonialism was “good” or “bad”</a>. Instead, it is about understanding how this global process helped create the world we currently inhabit. </p>
<h2>Clear-cutting rainforests for industrial rubber</h2>
<p>Since the 15th century, <a href="https://indianoceanworldcentre.com/welcome/our-mission/">the Indian Ocean has been the site of global trade</a>. Colonialism built upon local economic systems but also profoundly built up and shaped many of the massive industries and processes that are currently at play in the region. </p>
<p>For example, British colonialists transformed the <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674287242&content=reviews">Malay peninsula into a plantation economy</a> to meet the needs of industrial Britain and America. This included the expanding demand for cheap rubber during the industrial revolution. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thousands of Indians were brought in as indentured (contract) workers to work in various Malayan rubber plantations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nlb.gov.sg/biblio/14416012">The Malaysian Indian Dilemma/Janakey Raman Manickam</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Exploitative colonial policies in Singapore and the peninsula limited the economic options of poor Malays, Indians and Chinese. These workers were increasingly forced to clear cut vast swathes of rainforest to literally carve out a living for themselves at the expense of local ecosystems. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, more than half a century after the end of colonial rule in the Malay peninsula, the over-exploitation of local resources through extensive logging continues apace. Once numerous, Malayan tigers are now classified as a <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/malayan-tiger#">critically endangered</a> species due, in part, to habitat loss from logging and road development. </p>
<p>Deforestation in Malaysian Borneo also continues to accelerate, mainly due to the ongoing global demand for <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/drivers-of-deforestation-2016-palm-oil">palm oil</a> and lumber.</p>
<h2>Exporting for global markets</h2>
<p>In Myanmar (formerly Burma), trade in raw commodities goes back centuries. Under colonial rule, the export of minerals, timber and opium expanded enormously, placing unprecedented strain on local resources. </p>
<p>The integration of regions north of the <a href="https://wle-mekong.cgiar.org/changes/where-we-work/irrawaddy-river-basin/">Irrawaddy River basin</a> into the Burmese colonial state <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417504000179">drastically increased</a> economic integration between upland areas rich in natural resources and larger flows of European and Chinese capital. </p>
<p>Today, despite generating <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/cf46e086-6909-11e6-a0b1-d87a9fea034f">billions of dollars in revenue</a>, these regions are some of the poorest in the country and are home to widespread human rights abuses and environmental disasters. </p>
<h2>Extracting Africa’s gemstones and minerals</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/10/diamond-trade-still-fuels-human-suffering">human cost</a> of the diamond trade in West and South Africa is relatively well-known. Less known are the devastating effects on Africa’s environment that the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/may/02/society.conservationandendangeredspecies1">stripping of natural resources</a> such as diamonds, ivory, bauxite, oil, timber and minerals has produced. This mining serves a global demand for these minerals and gems.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-environmental-impact-of-the-mining-industry.html">intensive mining operations</a> required to deliver diamonds and other precious stones or minerals to world markets degrades the land, reduces air quality and pollutes local water sources. The result is an overall loss of biodiversity and significant environmental impacts on human health. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">African gold miners in a tunnel following a vein of ore, in the Crown Mine, in the greatest gold-bearing region of the world, near Johannesburg, South Africa, 1935.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From 1867 to 1871, exploratory digging along the Vaal, Harts and Orange rivers in South Africa prompted a large-scale diamond rush that saw a massive influx of miners and speculators pour into the region in search of riches. By 1888, the diamond industry in South Africa had transformed into a monopoly, with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-de-beers-2011-12">De Beers Consolidated Mines</a> becoming the sole producer. </p>
<p>Around the same time, miners in nearby Witwatersrand discovered the world’s largest gold fields, fuelling the spread of lucrative new mining industries. As European powers carved up the continent in the so-called “scramble for Africa” during the late 19th century, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050718000128">commercial exports</a> came to replace slavery as the primary economic motivation for direct colonial occupation. </p>
<p>New transportation technologies and economic growth fuelled by the industrial revolution created a global demand for African exports, including gemstones and minerals that required extensive mining operations to extract.</p>
<p>From 1930 to 1961, the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-2281.12103">diamond industry in Sierra Leone</a> played a crucial role in shaping and defining colonial governmental strategies and scientific expertise throughout the region. </p>
<p>Nearby Liberia was never formally colonized and was established as a homeland for freed African-American slaves. But American slaveholders and politicians saw the republic primarily as a solution to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/03/our-liberian-legacy/304821/">limit the “corrupting influence” of freed slaves on American society</a>. </p>
<p>To “help” Liberia get out of debt to Britain, the U.S.-based Firestone Tire and Rubber Company extended a $5-million loan in 1926 in exchange for a 99-year lease on a million acres of land to be used for rubber plantations. This loan was the beginning of direct <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1922/09/liberia-and-negro-rule/376221/">economic control</a> over Liberian affairs. </p>
<h2>Unequal power relations</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12076">report</a> suggests that Africa is on the verge of a fresh mining boom driven by demand in North America, India, and China that will only worsen existing ecological crises. Consumer demand for minerals such as tantalum, a key component for the production of electronics, lies at the heart of current mining operations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Photograph from 1892 of a pile of American bison skulls waiting to be ground for fertilizer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our understanding of colonialism is often limited to simple ideas about what we think colonialism looked like in the past. These ideas impede our ability to identify the complex ways that colonialism shaped and continues to shape the uneven power structures of the 21st century, as anthropologist and historian Ann Laura Stoler <a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/19/DuressImperial-Durabilities-in-Our-Times">argues in her book, <em>Duress</em></a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2017/wp152_2017.pdf">Unequal power relations</a> between and within developed and developing countries continue to define the causes and consequences of climate change. A clearer understanding of where these problems came from is a necessary first step towards solving them.</p>
<p>People in prosperous countries are often unaware that the garbage they throw out every day often gets shipped around the world to become <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/craig-and-marc-kielburger/canada-manila-recycling_b_5452730.html">somebody else’s problem</a>. </p>
<p>While people debate whether climate change should be taken seriously from the comfort of their air-conditioned homes, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/climate-change-drives-migration-crisis-in-bangladesh-from-dhaka-sundabans/">hundreds of thousands of people</a> are already suffering the consequences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph McQuade receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is a Senior Research Fellow at the NATO Association of Canada.</span></em></p>Much of the devastation of our globe’s natural resources traces its origins to early colonialism. These relationships continue to define the extraction of resources that severely impact ecosystems.Joseph McQuade, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for South Asian Studies, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/956722018-05-04T12:08:47Z2018-05-04T12:08:47ZThe Argentinian fight against ‘mega mining’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217753/original/file-20180504-166910-1brb3ju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chuquicamata-worlds-biggest-open-pit-copper-512334736?src=GCjawxpP05y_xDjQo5LFyw-1-21">reisegraf.ch</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On May 7 1813, when Argentina was beginning the process of becoming a sovereign country, the first Argentinian law for the promotion of mining was sanctioned. The day has now become a national day of mining. But mining in Argentina is surrounded by a series of controversies that invite us to question this celebratory commemoration. Most notably, resistance to what is known as “open-pit” or “mega” mining is growing.</p>
<p>Open-pit mining is a type of large-scale mining that extracts minerals found in low concentrations from the surface of the earth rather than from tunnelling, generating large craters. This method requires large amounts of explosives and water, and the use of chemicals such as cyanide and sulphuric acid for the separation of metals.</p>
<p>From Argentina to Colombia and Mexico, open-pit mining has been at the centre of environmental and human rights <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/oct/26/discontent-cerrejon-coal-mine-colombians-cry-foul">conflicts in Latin America</a> for decades now. It is often referred to as the archetype of extractivism due to the magnitude of its environmental and human impact and the alliances between governments and transnational capital that lie behind it. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217754/original/file-20180504-166890-p1vu4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217754/original/file-20180504-166890-p1vu4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217754/original/file-20180504-166890-p1vu4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217754/original/file-20180504-166890-p1vu4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217754/original/file-20180504-166890-p1vu4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217754/original/file-20180504-166890-p1vu4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217754/original/file-20180504-166890-p1vu4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A closed open pit mine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closed-open-pit-mine-71334253?src=oI55JZiHoAvuP89_5jlyAw-1-13">Tim Roberts Photography/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Mining took place in Argentina throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, but was never one of the country’s principle economic activities. Not until 1993, when under the neoliberal government of Carlos Menem, new mining legislation was introduced. This legislation improved the benefits to transnational companies and laid the ground for the beginning of large-scale open-pit mining for metalliferous minerals such as copper, gold and silver. </p>
<p>In 2017, Mauricio Macri’s government signed a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/argentina-mining/argentina-signs-mining-deal-to-unify-regulations-attract-investment-idUSL1N1JA1ES">new mining deal</a>, with the objective of attracting even more foreign investment. While the government has claimed the agreement aims to improve environmental regulation, academics, lawyers and activists alike have <a href="https://www.clarin.com/opinion/mineria-acuerdo-espaldas-sociedad_0_ryv6iir4W.html">criticised it</a> for its disregard of current environmental laws. Furthermore, the agreement states that mining companies will now be able to have input on the way mining is taught about in schools, a move seen as an attempt to construct a social license for mining through education.</p>
<h2>False promises</h2>
<p>Regional governments of mining provinces continue to argue that mega mining brings jobs, money and investment in infrastructure. But inhabitants of mining regions have told me how the jobs brought by this type of mining are few, and mostly limited to the construction phase of projects. The influx of resources promised by mining companies and provincial governments are also few and far from what is promised. As a teacher from Andalgalá, a town in the province of Catamarca told me, they promise paved roads and new facilities, and end up giving away a few footballs.</p>
<p>What mining towns are left with instead is environmental wreckage and health problems. In Andalgalá, two decades of mining have led to draught and polluted water sources. The local paediatric hospital reported a <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2009/09/18/Alumbrera/">63% increase</a> of respiratory diseases in children in the first four years that the Bajo la Alumbrera mine was in operation. They stopped publishing statistics after that – and requests for further research and statistics on health problems continue to be brushed aside by the authorities. </p>
<p>Meanwhile in the province of San Juan, the Veladero mine (operated by Barrick Gold) has had multiple spillages of cyanide-contaminated water, one of which was has led to <a href="http://www.mining.com/argentina-charges-barrick-executives-2015-cyanide-spill-veladero/">criminal charges and a multi-million fine</a>.</p>
<h2>Resistance is fertile</h2>
<p>While the effects of mega mining are grave and often irreversible, the media have only reported on the harmful consequences of this activity on occasions when it was politically strategic to do so. But communities across the country have come together to fight against mining projects that threaten the environment and their way of life. </p>
<p>In Esquel, in the south of the country, <a href="https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/mining/Meridian_completely_rules_out_Esquel_gold_project">a referendum in 2003</a> resulted in 81% of opposition to mega mining. In Famatina, in the north-west, the threat of mega mining led to a mass uprising in 2012. </p>
<p>The people of Andalgalá meanwhile, where the Bajo la Alumbrera mine has been in operation for two decades, have stopped the opening of Agua Rica, a mining project three times the size of the former, for eight years now. The local assembly organising against mining, Asamblea del Algarrobo, has pursued a number of routes in their fight, from legal challenges to direct action. </p>
<p>Most prominent in Andalgalá is the range of creative actions that have sprung up. An inter-generational group of local women called <em>Las mujeres del silencio</em> (the women of silence) have staged <a href="http://noviolencia2018.es/andalgala-mujeres-del-silencio-video">performative protests</a> outside the headquarters of mining companies. A community radio has been created. And a wealth of murals celebrating the right to life and to water – and denouncing the repression of protest – can be found covering the walls of the town.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217747/original/file-20180504-166881-1h188nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217747/original/file-20180504-166881-1h188nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217747/original/file-20180504-166881-1h188nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217747/original/file-20180504-166881-1h188nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217747/original/file-20180504-166881-1h188nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217747/original/file-20180504-166881-1h188nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217747/original/file-20180504-166881-1h188nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217747/original/file-20180504-166881-1h188nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mural painting on the front of Andalgalá’s community radio. Artwork by Claudia Tula. Image by the author.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A bigger struggle</h2>
<p>The fight against mega mining is part of a far wider struggle in Argentina and Latin America against the expansion of an extractive economic model. This approach leads to what sociologist Maristella Svampa and environmental lawyer Enrique Viale <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DK9mBAAAQBAJ&">call</a> <em>maldesarrollo</em> (bad development). Resistance to such practices is not just about pollution, but also about saving (or rebuilding) the social fabric that is torn apart by extractive activities, and establishing the right to self-determination. </p>
<p>In Andalgalá, I am often told that even though the fight against mining is far from over, the cultural battle has been won. The myths of progress associated with mining have been debunked – and the struggle has generated a creative space for thinking about alternative economic and governing models.</p>
<p>At the present time, the government and national and international mining companies are pushing to reverse some of the wins. But as transnational companies and the government attempt to intensify extraction, cultural resistance offers a space for imagining alternatives to false and bad developments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95672/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paula Serafini receives funding from The British Academy for a project on cultural resistance to extractivism. She is part of Argentina Solidarity Campaign.</span></em></p>As companies and governments attempt to intensify extraction, cultural resistance offers a space for imagining alternative futures.Paula Serafini, Research Associate, CAMEo Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/937182018-03-23T04:32:37Z2018-03-23T04:32:37ZNot getting a social licence to operate can be a costly mistake, as coal seam gas firms have found<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211688/original/file-20180323-54869-52700t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">And if you wait too long to survey a community, it can end up being too be too late to turn the tide of opinion.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Swinton</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a wide-ranging recent <a href="https://www.ceda.com.au/Digital-hub/CEDA-live-stream">speech</a>, Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said there was:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…an opportunity for all of us to turn our social licence into a stronger social bond or contract. I believe this is a “make or break” for companies and it’s especially important for those of us in the extractive sectors.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He’s right. His comments serve as a useful reminder of the importance of obtaining a social licence to operate – meaning ongoing local community acceptance of a company’s business.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-gas-between-a-fracked-rock-and-a-socially-hard-place-74932">Australian gas: between a fracked rock and a socially hard place</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837717305185">My research</a> on coal seam gas firms and social licence reveals what’s at stake if they get it wrong, and how they might get it right in the future.</p>
<h2>What is a ‘social licence’?</h2>
<p>“Social licence to operate” is a term that describes how much community support a project, company or industry has in a region. </p>
<p>Some companies view it as intangible, and put it in the too-hard basket. However, my research has found that there are some relatively simple ways to measure it. </p>
<p>Earning community support isn’t always straightforward. It involves interactions between a complex network of individuals and groups in society, and their views can change over time. It’s more than just getting one or two local representatives on side. If you don’t get that support, community pushback can cause expensive and time-consuming issues for a company. Regulations can change. People take to the streets.</p>
<p>Social licence can be a struggle to maintain, but it can also be a tool for promoting collaboration. Case studies in which this has been achieved effectively are still relatively few and far between, but we’re aiming to change this.</p>
<h2>More than just a legal contract</h2>
<p>Present legislation requires land access agreements to be drawn up between companies and the landholders on whose land they wish to operate. However, my research has found that this isn’t enough. </p>
<p>It can often create winners and losers. Natural resources such as freshwater systems extend beyond property boundaries. Just outside the land on which a project operates can be exactly where challenges to a social licence begin. We found that the exclusion of important stakeholders (and not treating them as a stakeholder group), can lead to substantial social licence issues.</p>
<p>For example, in the New South Wales <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Rivers">Northern Rivers region</a> (which includes places like Lismore, Byron Bay and Mullumbimby) the social movement against the coal seam gas industry began when a group of local ladies were having afternoon tea on their farm. They noticed a drill rig had appeared across the valley to drill on a neighbour’s property.</p>
<p>Those few women, who had never heard of the coal seam gas industry until that moment, nor had they previously participated in activism of any kind, were instrumental in the emergence of the anti-CSG movement.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211668/original/file-20180323-54863-1q6av90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211668/original/file-20180323-54863-1q6av90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211668/original/file-20180323-54863-1q6av90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211668/original/file-20180323-54863-1q6av90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211668/original/file-20180323-54863-1q6av90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211668/original/file-20180323-54863-1q6av90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211668/original/file-20180323-54863-1q6av90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211668/original/file-20180323-54863-1q6av90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters at the Bentley Blockade in 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">csgfreenorthernrivers.org</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What drives social licence?</h2>
<p>Local context is key. The legitimacy of a project hinges on whether people think a project will create more benefits than problems. And people’s perceptions emerge from a combination of local economics, demographics and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837717305185">social values</a>.</p>
<p>This is where a company needs credibility - a reputation for living up to its commitments and responding to concerns. Having a strong social licence is about not only being <em>seen</em> to be doing the right thing; it’s about actually doing the right thing. It’s also about transparency.</p>
<p>It’s important that government and industry approvals and processes are seen as fair.</p>
<h2>Losing your social licence is expensive</h2>
<p>Chief executive of gas company Metgsaco, Peter Henderson, explained to me in early 2012 that he viewed social licence as “an opportunity for NIMBYs to complain” (NIMBY meaning: “not in my backyard”). His view was that we had a democratically elected government that people should trust to make decisions on their behalf.</p>
<p>When we spoke again a year later, Metgasco was experiencing major operating restrictions, resulting from regulatory decisions made with what he saw as “absolutely no scientific, risk-management or factual basis”. His firm’s social licence was lost, and social resistance was in full swing. </p>
<p>A survey of Lismore voters that we conducted on behalf of Lismore City Council showed that in September 2012, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-5871.12071">87% of voters did not support CSG</a> development.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211686/original/file-20180323-54898-z0m1zj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211686/original/file-20180323-54898-z0m1zj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211686/original/file-20180323-54898-z0m1zj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211686/original/file-20180323-54898-z0m1zj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211686/original/file-20180323-54898-z0m1zj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211686/original/file-20180323-54898-z0m1zj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211686/original/file-20180323-54898-z0m1zj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211686/original/file-20180323-54898-z0m1zj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hanabeth Luke</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>By 2013, about half of Lismore voters had participated in protest rallies and marches. In 2014, thousands of people camped on the bordering property of a farmer who had signed a contract with Metgasco, at the historic <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-20/bentley-history/5463800">Bentley blockade</a>. Eventually, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-government-set-to-pay-25-million-for-metgasco-north-coast-gas-licences-20151102-gkodbr.html">Metgasco was paid A$25 million</a> as compensation for its cancelled gas licence. The episode came at great cost to both Metgasco and the NSW government.</p>
<p>It doesn’t need to be this way.</p>
<h2>Applying social licence across the landscape</h2>
<p>Agricultural industries are now starting to recognise social licence as a key issue. </p>
<p>My team’s latest research responds to calls for a strategic approach to social licence in horticulture. Jolyon Burnett, chief executive of the <a href="http://australian-macadamias.org/industry/">Australian Macadamia Society</a>, has said he views social licence as a “top five” priority – not just because its loss would pose a threat to industry growth and profitability, but because it’s important in its own right. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>By understanding what really makes up social licence in each community (because it will differ) and by fostering an understanding of those issues, and a common approach to addressing them, we can build a strong and sustainable relationship between industries (of all kinds) and communities will see us working in partnership, not conflict.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Getting social licence right</h2>
<p>The engagement approach you take is everything. This means working in partnership with communities and actively engaging them in the process from the very start. Understanding local perceptions and concerns involves talking to people, but polls and election surveys can help us to understand social licence across an electoral area; how people feel about a company or issue, and why. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/queensland-communities-remain-lukewarm-about-coal-seam-gas-csiro-survey-70709">Queensland communities remain lukewarm about coal seam gas: CSIRO survey</a>
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<p>Such simple methods can be used to measure a social licence, provide an understanding of local value systems, and establish knowledge levels on relevant issues. Such research can be used to inform industry code of conduct and best practice guidelines.</p>
<p>But before polling can take place, there needs to have been enough information available for people to make an informed decision. And if you wait too long to run a survey it can end up being too be too late to turn the tide of opinion. This is what happened in the Northern Rivers, with expensive results for the firms involved.</p>
<p>You can read more of our research on this <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837717305185">here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93718/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hanabeth Luke received a grant of $1500 from PESA in 2012.</span></em></p>‘Social licence to operate’ is a term describing how much community support a project or company has. As the Northern Rivers CSG experience shows, failing to get it can have costly impacts for firms.Hanabeth Luke, Lecturer, Southern Cross GeoScience, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/861082017-11-01T10:16:22Z2017-11-01T10:16:22ZGuyana, one of South America’s poorest countries, struck oil. Will it go boom or bust?<p>Today, Guyana is one of South America’s poorest countries, with an average per capita annual income <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/guyana/gdp-per-capita">of around US$4,000</a>.</p>
<p>But within the decade, it could be among the richest. In 2015, <a href="http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/company/worldwide-operations/locations/guyana/about-us/project-overview">ExxonMobil and its international partners</a> discovered vast oil reserves off the Caribbean coast of this small country. By 2018, <a href="http://www.offshore-mag.com/articles/print/volume-76/issue-7/latin-america/guyana-emerges-as-major-frontier-market.html">five new wells</a> will be pumping out 120,000 barrels of Guyanese crude daily.</p>
<p>Deep-water surveys estimate Guyana’s oil <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/business/energy-environment/major-oil-find-guyana-exxon-mobile-hess.html">reserves at around 2 billion barrels</a>. That pales in comparison to <a href="https://www.eia.gov/beta/international/country.cfm?iso=VEN">neighboring Venezuela</a> but <a href="https://www.eia.gov/beta/international/country.cfm?iso=TTO">surpasses the reserves of Trinidad and Tobago</a>, long the Caribbean’s biggest oil producer. </p>
<p>In short, Guyana is on the verge of unprecedented wealth – but only if it plays its cards right. As I’ve seen during two decades of research into Caribbean oil and gas development, natural resources can easily become a curse.</p>
<p>Is Guyana <a href="https://www.thedialogue.org/resources/what-lies-ahead-for-guyanas-new-oil-and-gas-deposits/">prepared</a> for the good and the bad of the oil bonanza to come?</p>
<h2>Guyana lays the groundwork</h2>
<p>Given its marine reserves, by the mid-2020s Guyanese oil production offshore <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21724385-it-will-take-better-politicians-resist-corrosive-power-petrodollars-will-oil-corrupt">could rise to 400,000 barrels a day</a>. Once production starts next year, Guyana will receive a 2 percent royalty on gross earnings and 50 percent of oil proceeds. </p>
<p>While that’s a fairly low <a href="http://guyanatimesgy.com/guyanas-royalty-percentage-low-ram/">royalty</a> by international standards, it will make Guyana rich. At the current market price of <a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/crude-oil.aspx">around $50 per barrel</a>, this country of 750,000 people can expect to net $1 million a day in oil earnings. </p>
<p>Since full monetization of Guyana’s oil and gas resources <a href="http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/print-version/exxonmobil-sanctions-44bn-liza-development-offshore-guyana-2017-06-16">will occur in five to 15 years</a>, the country has less than a decade to deal with <a href="http://www.inewsguyana.com/tt-to-help-guyanas-energy-sector/">numerous energy-related hurdles</a>, including unresolved territorial issues with Venezuela, environmental protection, wealth management and social concerns. </p>
<p>The government’s top priority is to resolve a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-33078948">border controversy</a> dating back to Guyana’s days as a British colony. For 200 years, Venezuela has claimed sovereignty over two-thirds of Guyana’s territory, including its exclusive economic zone. </p>
<p>This controversy – which hinges on a disagreement over the <a href="http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm">U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea</a> – is <a href="http://guyanachronicle.com/2015/06/23/president-declares-exxonmobil-has-nothing-to-fear-operations-will-continue-in-guyanas-eez">unlikely to scare off international oil companies</a>. Venezuela <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/013bfd26-0a8e-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43">could muck things up a bit</a> for Guyana, though, by increasing Navy patrols in Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone, which abuts Guyana’s disputed maritime area, deterring oil vessels and intercepting commercial ships.</p>
<p>Hoping to avoid such confrontations, Guyana is now <a href="https://www.noticiasdenuevaesparta.com/guyana-remains-imperiled-by-venezuelas-claim-to-its-territory-jamaica-observer/#.WfPipVLD_cs">pursuing a judicial settlement</a> at the U.N. If the countries fail to settle, the case will go <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/venezuela">to the International Court of Justice in The Hague</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://goinvest.gov.gy/whyguyana/infrastructure/">Inadequate infrastructure</a> is another constraint to growth. Guyana now has an <a href="http://www.ndsguyana.org/Frames/chapter8.htm">ambitious $164 million plan</a> to upgrade its road networks, bridges, ports, telecommunications and river transport system. But to get Guyana’s crude to international markets, some of this construction must be done by 2018 – a tall order for a small nation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192509/original/file-20171030-18711-g4dgnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192509/original/file-20171030-18711-g4dgnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192509/original/file-20171030-18711-g4dgnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192509/original/file-20171030-18711-g4dgnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192509/original/file-20171030-18711-g4dgnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192509/original/file-20171030-18711-g4dgnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192509/original/file-20171030-18711-g4dgnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Guyana, a largely rural former British colony, must upgrade its river transport system to accommodate an oil boom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canje_River,_Guyana.jpg">Lorski</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Environmental protections</h2>
<p>As oil production expands, protecting the marine environment will become an urgent issue for the entire Caribbean region.</p>
<p>In April, three Venezuelan doctors transporting medical supplies from Trinidad to Venezuela <a href="https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2017/05/09/three-doctors-drown-in-shipwreck-while-transporting-medical-supplies-to-venezuela/">drowned when their boat overturned in an oil slick</a>. A barge belonging to Trinidad and Tobago’s national oil company had ruptured, discharging <a href="http://guardian.co.tt/news/2017-04-30/oil-spill-flows-venezuela-waters">300 million barrels of crude into the sea</a> just seven miles from Venezuela. </p>
<p>Most recently, in October, a fisherman discovered an unreported <a href="http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/caribbean/20171015/outrage-over-massive-oil-spill-tts-chaguaramas-peninsula">“massive” spill</a> off of Trinidad’s northwest coast. A video posted to Facebook <a href="http://guardian.co.tt/news/2017-10-15/authorities-probe-chaguaramas-oil-spill">shows black waters</a> near Chaguaramas, the site of a major national park. The <a href="http://www.looptt.com/content/ima-and-ema-oil-spill-update">source of the spill remains unknown</a>.</p>
<p>Such catastrophes are commonplace around Trinidad, which for 110 years has been the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/caribbean-the-next-major-oil-region-2017-8">Caribbean’s major oil producer</a>. </p>
<p>They should serve as a warning for Guyana. Maritime crude drilling goes hand in hand with leaky pipelines, ruptured barges and rig malfunctions. In my experience, spills <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/a-series-of-oil-spills-sully-caribbean-paradise-coating-mangroves-and-wildlife-photos/">rarely result in sanctions</a> for oil and gas producers. </p>
<p>According to a June 2017 report from Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency, <a href="http://guyanachronicle.com/2017/07/30/what-is-the-state-of-guyanas-environment">the country’s forests and ecosystems are, today, almost untouched</a>. To keep Guyana pristine even as <a href="https://twitter.com/newsnowgy/status/747578579236466688">the oil and gas sector grows</a>, proper environmental management systems are critical.</p>
<h2>Avoiding the resource curse</h2>
<p>Revenue management is another big question mark right now. From <a href="https://www.li.com/docs/default-source/future-of-iran/the-future-of-iran-(economy)-oil-and-the-future-of-iran-a-blessing-or-a-curse-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=2">Iran</a> to Nigeria, worldwide experience confirms that social conflict and economic instability result when income from drilling, mining and the like is unequally distributed.</p>
<p>This is called the “<a href="https://resourcegovernance.org/sites/default/files/nrgi_Resource-Curse.pdf">resource curse</a>,” and Guyana must move quickly to avoid it. Recent opinion polls show that the Guyanese public has little faith in the <a href="http://www.icdn.today/opinions/government-and-leaders-in-guyana-trinidad-slip-in-rating/">leadership</a> ability of both the government and the opposition.</p>
<p>Indeed, Guyana’s gross mismanagement of its <a href="https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/answer/overview_of_corruption_and_anti_corruption_in_guyana_with_reference_to_natu">corruption-plagued sugar and mineral extraction industries</a> raises <a href="https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2017/05/22/corruption-choking-guyanas-development/">doubt</a> about whether the coming oil windfall will actually benefit citizens.</p>
<p>The Guyanese government seems to be aware of these financial management risks. On Oct. 26, Guyana became the latest member of the <a href="https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2017/10/26/bringing-transparency-and-accountability-to-natural-resources-guyana-becomes-latest-member-of-eiti/">Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative</a>, an international watchdog that partners with organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. </p>
<p>In addition to monitoring Guyana’s resource governance, the initiative requires mandatory <a href="https://eiti.org/FAQ#voluntary">full financial disclosures</a> to “demonstrate commitment to reform and anti-corruption.” </p>
<p>A critical next step would be to establish a sovereign wealth fund, following the good examples of <a href="http://www.ifswf.org/member-profiles/heritage-and-stabilization-fund">Trinidad</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/09/22/norways-sovereign-wealth-fund-hits-1-trillion-infographic/&refURL=https://www.google.com/&referrer=https://www.google.com/">Norway</a>. This type of national savings account ensures that oil revenues are invested and spent in a way that transcends political cycles and generations.</p>
<h2>Ethnic strife</h2>
<p>There is good reason for concern about Guyana’s future as an oil power. Though the country has enjoyed relative <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/guyana/political-stability-and-absence-of-violence-terrorism-estimate-wb-data.html">political stability over the past decade</a>, its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/nyregion/power-corruption-and-murder-roils-little-guyana.html">society is fractious</a>. Politics in Guyana – whose population is 29 percent Afro-Guyanese and 40 percent Indo-Guyanese – divide along racial lines, with the two main ethnic groups competing over money and power. </p>
<p>Protests in 2012 <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19747052">killed three people</a>, and more unrest occurred <a href="http://guyanachronicle.com/2017/05/16/sugar-workers-continue-to-protest">earlier this year</a>.</p>
<p>Challenges aside, Guyana also has some solid foundations for economic development. Its <a href="http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/profiles/Guyana/Education">well-educated population</a> and <a href="https://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/ics/2017/wha/270074.htm">open, market-driven financial climate</a> make it an attractive destination for American, Chinese, Mexican and Brazilian companies, among others. </p>
<p>From 2006 to 2015, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-business-risk-guyana/overseas-business-risk-guyana">foreign direct investment</a> – mostly in Guyana’s mining, tourism and telecommunications sectors – averaged $188 million per year, representing 7.9 percent of gross domestic product. That will surely grow once oil starts flowing.</p>
<p>The odds of a success are aided by Trinidad and Tobago, which <a href="http://www.wiredja.com/business/item/3767-trinidad-to-assist-guyana-develop-oil-and-energy-sector">has been providing technical assistance</a> to Guyana since 2016. In addition to helping its neighbor develop <a href="http://guyanachronicle.com/2017/07/21/exxon-warehouse-logistics-base-by-march">its energy and gas expertise</a>, Trinidad hopes its own refinery will soon begin <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/guyana-oil/guyana-says-future-oil-output-could-be-refined-in-trinidad-suriname-idUSL2N1GF1QG">processing Guyanese crude</a>.</p>
<p>One way or another, oil riches will transform Guyana. With sound economic policy and thoughtful leadership, it can be for the better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony T. Bryan is affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington, D.C. as a Senior Associate (Non-Resident). He is also an energy and gas consultant.</span></em></p>Guyana is on the verge of an oil bonanza that could bring in US$1 million a day. But if it’s not careful, this poor nation – population 750,000 – could fall prey to the dreaded ‘resource curse.’Anthony T. Bryan, Professor of International Relations, The University of the West Indies: St. Augustine CampusLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/696872017-01-16T10:30:48Z2017-01-16T10:30:48ZThe African towns falling into decline and poverty after mining companies use resources then exit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151575/original/image-20170103-18641-c3omc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/pic-405932656/stock-photo-bauxite-stripe-mine-in-the-autumn-sun.html?src=me4XNj2JU14V2czVQgygeA-1-39">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The town of Fria in Guinea was built around bauxite mining in 1957. It used to have good facilities: water, electricity, schools, housing and hospitals. But since the last company mining there began to decrease activities in 2008 after the financial crisis and a fall in aluminium prices, the population has increasingly lived in poverty with high rates of unemployment. Families that used to provide for their extended families cannot today afford to care for the needs of their own children and immediate relatives. </p>
<p>In 2009 Julien Brygo, a French photojournalist, <a href="http://mondediplo.com/2009/11/12guinea">wrote</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Many of the benefits the locals used to enjoy are being lost. While accommodation remains free, the children’s nursery is closed, the swimming pool, athletics tracks and sports stadium have fallen into disrepair, water and electricity are now rationed. The Pechiney hospital, as the locals still call it, long recognised as the best in Guinea, is no longer regularly supplied with medicine.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Russian parent company RUSAL finally closed the mine in 2012. The move left more than 1,000 permanent employees and 2,000 outsourced workers <a href="http://www.industriall-union.org/the-drama-of-rusal-friguia-workers-in-guinea">without pay</a>. One resident <a href="http://www.drumconnection.com/2012/08/28/guinea-town-paralysed-as-pay-strike-shuts-aluminium-plant/">spoke of</a> a starving population who were “selling their property, their homes, and plots of land and even furniture to survive”. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151577/original/image-20170103-18668-wye7ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151577/original/image-20170103-18668-wye7ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151577/original/image-20170103-18668-wye7ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151577/original/image-20170103-18668-wye7ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151577/original/image-20170103-18668-wye7ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151577/original/image-20170103-18668-wye7ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151577/original/image-20170103-18668-wye7ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dry swiming pool.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fria’s sad decline is because it is an “enclave”, a town built to respond to the needs of a refinery, run by a succession of companies before RUSAL took up operations 16 years ago. It is just one of an increasing number of makeshift towns built around rural mineral extraction sites in African countries including Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Sudan, and Nigeria, which are being driven by growing <a href="http://www.dourish.com/classes/readings/Ferguson-SeeingLikeAnOilCompany-AA.pdf">foreign investment in mining</a>.</p>
<p>These new urban developments are sustained, managed and controlled by the mining companies. And although the nature of these towns vary between countries and what is being mined, they all share some common characteristics. They are all administered by foreign companies in accordance with the norms of “home” states, such as the US, France and Australia, and mostly managed by foreign nationals – with heavy support from outside investment. </p>
<p>It means these enclaves develop economies that are totally disconnected <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/global-shadows">from the wider realities</a> of the host countries. And in the case of Fria, the danger is that when mining activities stop, the people living there are left in extreme poverty with no alternative livelihoods. </p>
<h2>Sharing the benefits</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151576/original/image-20170103-18679-v1s0np.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151576/original/image-20170103-18679-v1s0np.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151576/original/image-20170103-18679-v1s0np.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151576/original/image-20170103-18679-v1s0np.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151576/original/image-20170103-18679-v1s0np.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151576/original/image-20170103-18679-v1s0np.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151576/original/image-20170103-18679-v1s0np.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Fria mining site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite slow economic growth in Guinea between 1958 and 2008, the mining sector is the largest contributor to the state’s export revenue and its most stable source of tax revenue. In 2008, Bauxite – the main source of the world’s aluminium <a href="http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2009/myb3-2009-gv.pdf">accounted for</a> about US$596m (40%) of the country’s total exports. Industrial mining activities <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2008/cr0807.pdf">provided</a> about 22,000 direct full-time jobs and created over 50,000 indirect jobs. </p>
<p>And enclaves come with some advantages. In Guinea, for example, because high amounts of electricity are needed to extract alumina from bauxite, the enclaves benefit from 24/7 electricity. And although much of the highly skilled expertise is provided by expats from abroad, the mining sector still offers job opportunities to nationals, sometimes creating collaborations between mining companies and local education centres. </p>
<p>In Guinea, bauxite mining is <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2008/cr0807.pdf">the second-largest employer</a> after the civil service. Then there are the jobs needed to run operations: drivers, technicians, engineers, cooks and security agents. And because many of those involved in operations are Western foreigners, the infrastructures are built to those standards and often health services are the best in the country. </p>
<p>In two other Guinean enclaves, Kamsar and Sangaredi, employees and their families live with 24/7 access to water and electricity, reliable healthcare, subsidised food, supermarkets, air conditioning, good schools, free housing, good roads and cultural spaces. Everything has been built to meet the standard of living expected by foreign expatriates. Though the state provides some security services and administrative officials, these staff, too, benefit from the lifestyle created. </p>
<p>But life in an enclave is totally different from that lived by the majority of Guineans outside of it. Less than 15 minutes’ drive away and you step outside the enclave bubble and into the realities experienced by the majority of Guineans. Much of the population faces poverty with no access to basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and health services. Life in the enclaves is what the majority of Guineans would like to see the mining sector provide to wider society. </p>
<p>There are some formal and informal economies that crop up just outside the mining enclaves, which enable at least some other Guineans to benefit from the mining sector. For instance, outside of Kamsar there is a large market created to meet the needs of the mine workers and their families and which draws in local entrepreneurs from elsewhere in Guinea who want to take advantage of the higher salaries linked to the enclaves. </p>
<p>But after 50 years of development of the extractive industry, Guinean society as a whole is yet to benefit significantly from the revenues of its mining sector. And worst of all, when mining activities stop, it is the general population who have never benefited from the mining who also end up with environmental damage such as land degradation and pollution.</p>
<h2>What’s left?</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151579/original/image-20170103-18662-1rb7sis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151579/original/image-20170103-18662-1rb7sis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151579/original/image-20170103-18662-1rb7sis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151579/original/image-20170103-18662-1rb7sis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151579/original/image-20170103-18662-1rb7sis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151579/original/image-20170103-18662-1rb7sis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151579/original/image-20170103-18662-1rb7sis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Closed shop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After the investment is gone, most of the services provided in the enclaves disappear as do the jobs. Towns like Kamsar and Sangaredi are still attractive now, but unless the government intervenes to make sure the rural economy is developed and unless mining revenues are more fully fed into the overall economy, these towns won’t contribute to sustainable development in Guinea.</p>
<p>Talking to people in local communities near bauxite mining areas in Guinea, I found many expressed dissatisfaction about the division between those inside and outside the enclaves. It doesn’t help that in Guinea, in contrast to places like Sudan, Nigeria and Angola, mining activities happen in close proximity to local communities, meaning company transportation passes through local towns. Some have resorted to addressing mining companies directly with specific demands for the development of their towns in return for the stability of mining activities. </p>
<p>Between 2007 and 2012, for example, mining firm <a href="http://www.cbg-guinee.com/cbgguinee/historique/origine-de-la-cbg">Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée</a> (CBG) (part-owned by the Guinean goverment), was the victim of several <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/guinea-mining-town-rocked-by-riot-456230">youth-led protests</a> in Kamsar demanding more support to improve their livelihoods. Protests lead to the temporary disruption of mining activities which in turn can lead to lost revenue for the company. To avoid the disruption of their mining activities, CBG told me in 2014 that it had responded to the youth protests by implementing several <a href="http://www.cbg-guinee.com/actionscommunautaires">community projects</a>. One of these projects, “Toutes Petites Entreprises” was created to promote, support and sponsor local youth led enterprises and to ensure that the CBG offers job opportunities to youth living in neighbouring local communities. These initiatives have contributed to improving the relationship between CBG and neighbouring communities. But more remains to be done in order to ensure that mining revenues benefit wider Guinean society. </p>
<p>In order to avoid further clashes with local communities, mining companies such as CBG urgently need to work together with the state to ensure that profits from mining benefit all. And to prevent mining companies leaving ghost towns like Fria, plans must be put in place to promote the kind of economic development that will sustain the population long after mining has finished.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69687/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penda Diallo is affiliated with CARE </span></em></p>Mining brings some benefits to some but when extraction is over, the lack of wider benefits to all is keenly felt.Dr Penda Diallo, Visiting Research Associate, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/593422016-05-15T14:17:13Z2016-05-15T14:17:13ZProtests surge as gap widens between reality and the ‘Africa rising’ narrative<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122480/original/image-20160513-10687-11fi703.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Burkina Faso is among the African countries that have experienced popular protests in recent years.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahmed Yempabou/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Self-congratulatory rhetoric keeps springing from the lips of World Economic Forum elites – at the expense of reality.</p>
<p>Software executive Brett Parker <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/business/opinion/wef-leader-series-brett-parker-2019227">claims</a> that “Africa will probably remain natural resources-driven for the next two decades at least.” African Leadership University’s Fred Swaniker <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/africa-leaders-new-generation?utm_content=buffer5897f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">says</a>, “the Africa Rising narrative presents the most compelling argument for the continent’s prosperity.” </p>
<p>Their statements come at a time when commodity prices have crashed to <a href="http://www.graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/62378-low-commodity-prices-impeding-growth-sub-saharan-africa-report.html">record lows</a>. This has left societies like Nigeria in profound <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/10/world/africa/frustration-by-the-hour-as-nigeria-tries-to-cure-long-lines-for-gasoline.html?_r=0">crisis</a>. And in spite of petroleum falling below US$30 per barrel earlier this year and hovering at $40 today, Standard Chartered Bank economist Razia Khan <a href="http://www.observer.ug/business/38-business/42285-uganda-s-oil-still-viable-says-stanchart-s-razia-khan">argues</a> that Uganda should keep pumping scarce investment funds into oil exploration. Production in the country will cost an estimated $70 per barrel. </p>
<p>The 2016 World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, hosted in Kigali, claimed the “<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/">fourth industrial revolution</a>” – the use of “cyberphysical systems” like artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology and biotech – as Africa’s future. This is because the continent is “the world’s fastest-growing digital consumer market”. Yet <a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21935594%7EpagePK:146736%7EpiPK:146830%7EtheSitePK:258644,00.html">fewer than a third</a> of sub-Saharan Africans have electricity in their homes. The summit merely reinforced extractive-industry and high-tech myths.</p>
<p>But there is widespread social resistance under way in Africa. Grassroots protesters are questioning the logic of export-led “growth” and renewed fiscal austerity. They are demanding that policies meet their basic needs instead.</p>
<p>Since 2011 the continent has witnessed a dramatic spike in social protests, as <a href="http://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/publications/african-economic-outlook/">recorded</a> by the African Development Bank. The wave has not receded. The bank said in its 2015 “African Economic Outlook” that there were five times more protests annually between 2011 and 2014 than in 2000. And after the dramatic “Arab Spring” – the 2011 North African democratic uprising that was especially acute in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco – protesters picked up the pace in Algeria, Angola, Chad, Gabon, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and many other countries. </p>
<h2>The power of protests</h2>
<p>Press reports <a href="http://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/publications/african-economic-outlook/">collated</a> by the bank confirm that almost all protests since 2011 have been about inadequate wages and working conditions, the low quality of public service delivery, social divides, state repression and a lack of political reform. A few examples illustrate the impressive results of recent protests. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>In Mozambique, water and food price hikes in September 2010 <a href="http://www.ids.ac.uk/publication/hunger-revolts-and-citizen-strikes-popular-protests-in-mozambique-2008-2012">catalysed consumers</a>. Text messages proposed a mass “strike”. This paralysed Maputo for a weekend. The protesters were met by lethal police violence. But they won: a price freeze was imposed and new state service subsidies were introduced.</p></li>
<li><p>In Senegal, <a href="http://www.clashmusic.com/features/enough-is-enough-the-rap-revolution-of-senegal">sustained demonstrations</a> in 2011-12 prevented authoritarian neoliberal president Abdoulaye Wade from serving a third term.</p></li>
<li><p>In Nigeria, the International Monetary Fund imposed the doubling of local petrol prices in January 2012. This caused an uprising that, in the subsequent fortnight, nearly overthrew the government before the increase <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/16/nigeria-restores-fuel-subsidy-protests">was reversed</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>In 2014 the most spectacular protest was in Burkina Faso. In <a href="https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/57634">the spirit of</a> 1980s revolutionary Thomas Sankara, mass demonstrations overthrew president Blaise Compaoré. The protests had begun in 2011 with vigorous Burkinabé food riots. These were put down by lethal police force that left more than a dozen people dead. Compaoré’s attempt at a comeback in 2015 was similarly foiled.</p></li>
<li><p>In October 2015 South African students and low-paid university workers <a href="https://theconversation.com/only-pressure-on-south-africas-elites-can-ease-university-fee-stress-49376">won the battle</a> for a 0% fee increase for 2016 and “insourcing” of casual employment.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Some social turmoil is localised, taking place in the vicinity of mines and oil wealth. This is correlated in <a href="http://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=10089">recent mappings</a> by the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research, based <a href="http://www.acleddata.com/">on data</a> gathered by University of Sussex researchers, and on more than 200 studies in the Environmental Justice Liabilities and Trade research project’s “<a href="http://ejatlas.org/">EJ Atlas</a>”.</p>
<p>Labour also regularly protests in Africa. The WEF’s “Global Competitiveness Report” authors <a href="http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/">ask businesses</a> in 140 countries each year how they rate labour-employer relations in terms of cooperation versus confrontation. Of the third most militant countries in the world, African countries typically account for 40%, far higher than any other region. </p>
<p>Since 2012 – the year in which 34 miners were killed in the “<a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/marikana-massacre-16-august-2012">Marikana Massacre</a>” – the South African working class has been ranked angriest. The 2015 WEF rankings for the other most “confrontational” workers include those from Algeria, Tunisia, Mozambique, Guinea, Chad, Liberia, Mauritania, Lesotho, Morocco, Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon and Gabon. </p>
<h2>Financial outflows</h2>
<p>The pressures on many African societies relate to the continent’s fiscal stresses, since declining commodity prices lower state revenues. These stresses also reflect the massive outflow of funds by multinational corporations via tax dodges and other illicit routes. The African Union Panel on Illicit Financial Flows last month raised the estimate to <a href="http://mgafrica.com/article/2016-04-26-80-billion-not-50-billion-loss-of-african-funds-even-worse-than-thought-mbeki">$80 billion</a> lost each year. </p>
<p>There is also the matter of licit financial outflows: the profits and dividends taken offshore legally by multinationals thanks to deregulated exchange controls, which must be paid in hard currency. In South Africa, these have driven the past 15 years of current account deficits – the trade deficit plus the outflow of profits – which in turn led to a huge increase in the country’s foreign debt: from $32 billion in 2000 to $140 billion today.</p>
<p>What to do next? The IMF’s April 2016 “Regional Economic Outlook for Africa” suggests that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a substantial policy reset is critical in many cases … Because the reduction in revenue from the extractive sector is expected to persist, many affected countries also critically need to contain fiscal deficits and build a sustainable tax base from the rest of the economy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Precisely this neoliberalism – a policy “reset” that in reality is more of the same – is one reason for what US academics Adam Branch and Zachariah Mampilly term “<a href="http://africanarguments.org/2015/03/23/africa-uprising-popular-protest-and-political-change-interview-with-the-authors/">Africa Uprising</a>”. </p>
<p>Even if it is ignored in Kigali, or repressed on the ground, the popular risings against the WEF’s dubious “Africa Rising” rhetoric await the solidarity of those with a more patriotic perspective on the continent’s prospects.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Bond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Grassroots protesters are questioning the logic of export-led ‘growth’ and renewed fiscal austerity pushed through the ‘Africa rising’ narrative. They want policies that meet their basic needs.Patrick Bond, Professor of Political Economy, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/590892016-05-10T11:40:15Z2016-05-10T11:40:15ZTime for Africa to transition from extractive to learning economies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121718/original/image-20160509-20605-1d7afo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is very little evidence that commodity producing countries diversify their economies by adding value to their raw materials</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Siegfried Modola</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The current slump in world commodity prices is forcing Africa to rethink its traditional dependence on raw material exports. This is why the time for African nations to lay the foundations for transitioning from extractive to learning economies is now.</p>
<p>The jolts are real. The International Monetary Fund has <a href="http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2016/CAR050316A.htm">projected</a> that the continent will grow by 3% in 2016. This is well below the 6% average growth over the past decade and the lowest rate in the past 15 years.</p>
<p>Some argue that Africa has already <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/africa-economy-idUSL5N1103RD20150825">squandered</a> the commodity boom and wasted the opportunity to increase its manufactured exports. Others point to the fact that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/oct/25/africa-diversify-resource-curse-thinktank">extractive industries</a> crowd out manufacturing, making diversification more difficult.</p>
<p>International policy discourse on the issue is still dominated by the need to bring more transparency to extractive industries. The assumption here is that this will help control the operations of multinational corporations, which in turn will improve the use of revenue from exports. Noble as they are, the suggestions are still framed in the context of commodities and will add little to economic diversification.</p>
<h2>Why learning economies make better sense</h2>
<p>Extraction is not just an economic activity in Africa. It is a pervasive worldview that defines behaviour from business interactions to relations between the state and its citizens. This phenomenon is vividly captured in Tom Burgis’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/books/review/the-looting-machine-by-tom-burgis.html?_r=0">book</a>, “The Looting Machine: Warlords, Oligarchs, Corporations, Smugglers, and the Theft of Africa’s Wealth”.</p>
<p>Lamentation is not enough. Neither is the magical thinking that the downturn in the commodity boom and consumer-driven growth will automatically lead to diversification. This can only be achieved through practical efforts to focus on creating learning economies driven by <a href="http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/2098/innovation.html">technological innovation</a>.</p>
<p>The good news is that African policymakers are aware of what needs to be done. For example, in 2014 the African Union (AU) adopted a ten-year Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy to help reposition the continent as a collection of technology-driven economies. This strategy contributes to Africa’s 50-year <a href="http://agenda2063.au.int/en//vision">Agenda 2063</a>.</p>
<p>The challenge is how to do it. One example can be found in the decision by the AU and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Agency to collaborate in building executive capacity among African ministers through the Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship <a href="http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/25761/gift_from_the_schooner_foundation_will_support_executive_education_leaders_from_african_nations.html?">Programme</a>. This is funded by the <a href="https://www.ihrfg.org/funder-directory/schooner-foundation">Schooner Foundation</a>.</p>
<h2>Diversification isn’t a simple process</h2>
<p>Rhetorical statements about value-addition are not enough. For example, in 2015 Africa exported nearly US$2.5 billion worth of coffee. Germany’s re-export of coffee, on the other hand, was about $3.9 billion.</p>
<p>There is little evidence to support the view that commodity exporting countries diversify their economies by adding value to their raw materials. So, adding value to coffee in Africa is hardly the best response. To the contrary, nations add value to imported raw materials when they already possess the minimum technological competence. In effect, they do so because they are learning rather than extractive economies.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121723/original/image-20160509-20616-1tf463y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121723/original/image-20160509-20616-1tf463y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121723/original/image-20160509-20616-1tf463y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121723/original/image-20160509-20616-1tf463y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121723/original/image-20160509-20616-1tf463y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121723/original/image-20160509-20616-1tf463y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121723/original/image-20160509-20616-1tf463y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo sees agriculture as more than the ‘new oil’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Tiksa Negeri</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So how do nations shift from extractive to learning economies? First, they do not do so by simply shifting to another sector and hoping that diversification will occur automatically. An example of this is the description of Nigeria’s emphasis on agriculture as the country’s “new oil.” As noted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/05/14/in-nigeria-agriculture-is-the-new-oil/#4a998e0e4517">agriculture</a> can be more than the “new oil”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One day the oil will run out – but sub-Saharan Africa will always have its fertile land, its rivers, its youthful workforce and its huge domestic market. Investing now can turn that potential into prosperity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Agriculture is an important entry point for economic diversification not because of abundant land, but because it offers a foundation for building learning economies through <a href="http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/25699/new_harvest.html">technological innovation</a>. Agriculture can serve as an effective source of technological lessons for the wider economy.</p>
<p>Shifting from extractive to learning economies therefore requires refocusing attention on continuous improvement, adaptation and diversification. The key starting point for Africa is not to retreat into the false safety of “African solutions for African problems.” It is to learn from other economies – not just copy them – and adapt the lesson to local needs.</p>
<h2>The benefit of being latecomers</h2>
<p>African nations have the benefit of being latecomers. The world is full of inspirational <a href="http://newafricanmagazine.com/diamonds-are-not-forever-knowledge-is-power/">examples</a> they can learn from. In fact, many of the countries that have recently transitioned to being learning economies started off with a lot less resources (finance and research facilities) than the majority of African countries have today.</p>
<p>Take the case of Taiwan. In the early 1960s, the country’s main export was mushrooms, of which it was a world leader. The prospects of industrial learning were quite limited when dealing with a high-volume, low-value and perishable export commodity. It transitioned to becoming a semiconductor powerhouse by redefining itself as a learning economy.</p>
<p>Taiwan’s premier <a href="http://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJTG.2008.020332?journalCode=ijtg&">research centre</a>, the Industrial Technology Research Institute that spawned many of its leading semiconductor firms, was created by consolidating four dilapidated research centres left behind by Japanese occupiers. The institute was not created to add value to mushrooms but was part of the country’s policy reinvention as a learning economy.</p>
<p>The case of Taiwan illustrates the fact that economic diversification results from the initial use of existing technologies that can be readily combined to generate increasingly diverse products. Some technological capabilities generate more combinations that others. Semiconductor and chemical industries are examples of such a platform of generic technologies.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121720/original/image-20160509-20584-11n2dhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121720/original/image-20160509-20584-11n2dhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121720/original/image-20160509-20584-11n2dhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121720/original/image-20160509-20584-11n2dhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121720/original/image-20160509-20584-11n2dhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121720/original/image-20160509-20584-11n2dhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121720/original/image-20160509-20584-11n2dhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Industrial growth proceeds like a game of Scrabble. Some letters have higher values, but they do not combine readily to form words.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Srdjan Zivulovic</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As my colleague Professor Ricardo Hausmann <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FeugaLv5Bo">explains</a>, industrial growth proceeds like a game of Scrabble. Nations start off with minimum technological capabilities that they recombine to create more technologies in the same way letters are used to create new words in a Scrabble game. Not all letters are created equal. Some have higher values, but they do not combine readily to form words.</p>
<p>Raw materials, for example, are like the letters J, Q, X and Z, which appear to have high value but are hard to use in creating words. Players often have to substitute them with more versatile letters. This is like using revenue from raw materials to acquire technological capabilities that have higher recombinant value. As in Scrabble, industrial development involves considerable learning, not just about letters but also about vocabulary and strategies for thinking about creating new words.</p>
<p>Africa’s economic downturn is not itself a fatal development. Countries need not recoil into despair and leave their future to the fate of commodity price fluctuations. It is an opportunity to start building new futures that focus on enhancing human capabilities as the foundation of durable economic development.</p>
<p>Unlike its predecessors, Africa has access to a much <a href="http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/26476/how_can_africa_master_the_digital_revolution.html">wider range of technologies</a> that can serve as platforms for industrial learning. They cover diverse fields such as digital technologies, genetics, synthetic biology and new materials. Harnessing them requires building among the youth a <a href="http://belfercenter.hks.harvard.edu/publication/3227/new_culture_of_innovation.html">culture of innovation </a>that is driven by learning and not extraction. </p>
<p><em>This article was originally published by <a href="http://www.technologyandpolicy.org/about/#.VzAvZPl97IU">Technology and Policy, Innovation at Work</a> and is based on the author’s draft book, “How Economies Succeed: Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship”.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59089/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Calestous Juma receives funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation</span></em></p>The downturn in the commodity boom will not automatically lead to diversification of Africa’s economies. This can only be achieved through a focus on creating learning economies driven by innovation.Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development, Harvard Kennedy SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/451332015-07-29T04:18:26Z2015-07-29T04:18:26ZWhy local content in Africa’s extractive sector won’t work without home grown human capital<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89818/original/image-20150727-7641-4q0fib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An oil worker stands on the deck of a tanker at Bonga off-shore oil field outside Lagos. Africa's extractive industries are committed to local content but universities aren't producing the right kind of graduates.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For over 30 years many African countries have been exploring their natural resources, whether oil, gas or minerals. In the last ten years many more have joined the natural resource exploitation <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2012/aug/06/africa-natural-resources-economic-curse">club</a>. Many have also witnessed economic <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/04/07/africas-growth-set-to-reach-52-percent-in-2014-with-strong-investment-growth-and-household-spending">growth and development</a>. </p>
<p>Significant investments have been poured into the development and growth of the extractive industry on the continent. But there is a disconnect between the industry and institutions of higher education. These are supposed to provide and develop the necessary skills, competencies and human capital required to develop and manage the industry. </p>
<p>But there is a substantial gap between the kinds of graduates that universities are producing and what extractive industries need. </p>
<p>There are instances where this gap has been narrowed. For example, a collaboration between private and public institutions under the banner of Nigeria’s Institute of Petroleum <a href="http://www.ipsng.org/ips/index.php/about-ips/about-ips">Studies</a> has proved successful.</p>
<h2>The complexity of local content</h2>
<p>One initiative that could help bridge the gap is local content.</p>
<p>As a concept, local content is complex. Within the context of this discussion, it relates to the process of developing local skills and capacity and local supplier competitiveness and participation in an extractive industry. </p>
<p>Local content requires that local citizens get jobs in the sector. In situations where there are no skills available, the capacity to develop them is considered. </p>
<p>It is an important agenda in Africa but the challenges and expectations are huge. Firstly, there is a limited pool of skills and expertise to develop its natural resources. Secondly, aligning local content with national priorities is a challenge because many stakeholders are involved. </p>
<p>Developing local content also comes at a cost and there is always the question of who pays, at what price. Another challenge is deciding on who benefits the most and how governments decide on their objectives or policies.</p>
<p>Despite these challenges, there is a clear benefit to local content development for host governments because it helps:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>stimulate jobs,</p></li>
<li><p>increase a skilled workforce,</p></li>
<li><p>develop international competitiveness in local suppliers, and</p></li>
<li><p>protect a nation’s key strategic industries. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Countries with policies in place</h2>
<p>Local content policies differ from country to country. Nigeria has a <a href="http://www.ncdmb.gov.ng/images/DOWNLOADS/NC-ACT/NC_ACT.pdf">Local Content Act</a>. This is geared to developing and improving local capacity and participation in the extractive industry and the overall improvement of the economy. </p>
<p>In Angola, the policy situation is a little more complicated. There is not a central or single institution to supervise enforcement even though the role of local content is clearly appreciated. </p>
<p>Ethiopia opened its mining sector to private investment in 1991. A strategic broadening of mining permits is available with the enactment of the <a href="http://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/eth85042.pdf">Mining Operations Proclamation</a>. It also seeks to increase the participation of Ethiopian nationals in the extractive sector. </p>
<p>The Botswana government encourages foreign firms to hire qualified nationals rather than expatriates. The granting of work permits to foreign nationals can be made contingent on demonstrable “localisation” efforts. Though expatriates can be employed, international companies need to have strategies for developing local skills and succession plans. </p>
<p>In Gabon, a new hydrocarbons law encourages the progressive replacement of foreign workers and prioritises the hiring of local people with equivalent. </p>
<h2>But where are the qualified people?</h2>
<p>There is a need to think carefully about how local content policies can actually influence and develop higher education quality. It is common knowledge that there are pressing <a href="http://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/publications/tracking-africa%E2%80%99s-progress-in-figures/human-development/">human capital</a> development needs across Africa . It is also clear that the development of local human capital is a prerequisite if the extractive industry is to have a greater domestic focus. </p>
<p>Efforts towards local content are far removed from the quality of higher education being provided. In Nigeria, most of the graduates being absorbed into the oil and gas sector need to be retrained by companies. And in many cases, they need an extra post graduate degree from an overseas university before being absorbed. </p>
<p>In countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Gabon and Angola there is minimal higher education provision to produce the required skills needed by the sector. In some cases it is totally non-existent. The situation is even worse in the development of vocational skills that are in dire demand in the extractive sector.</p>
<p>In Angola, Nigeria, Kenya, Liberia and many other African countries where natural resource exploitation is on the government’s agenda, overseas scholarships schemes abound. Most are funded by the government or industry to comply with local content policies or to show case their corporate social responsibility. But they seem to favour overseas universities. In addition, some <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3524710.stm">graduates don’t return</a> home, defeating the intention of local content. </p>
<h2>Focus on quality higher education</h2>
<p>It seems that institutions that deliver top quality education are those that have been co-hosted or co-organised through a partnership between government and industry. An <a href="http://www.ipsng.org/ips/index.php/about-ips/about-ips">example</a> is Nigeria’s Institute of Petroleum Studies. This is sponsored by <a href="http://nigeria.total.com/en">Total</a> Exploration and Production Nigeria and the state-owned <a href="http://www.nnpcgroup.com/">Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation</a>. </p>
<p>The institute is based at the University of Port Harcourt, a public institution, in partnership with the IFP School of Oil and Gas in France under a trans-national <a href="http://www.ipsng.org/ips/index.php/about-ips/about-ips">education framework</a> and a collaborative graduate school. </p>
<p>Instead of sending people overseas for training, is it not better to encourage partnerships between institutions on the continent and their overseas counterparts while collaborating with industry to produce the skills? </p>
<p>Most of the graduates from the Institute of Petroleum Studies stay in Nigeria. Its success is shown by the attraction of other nationals in Africa to take the institute’s programmes. This initiative ensures that the graduates have a 90% chance of being absorbed into the Nigerian <a href="http://www.aau.org/ace/sites/default/files/cefor_sub_saharan_africa_2015-_2016_msc_programme_advert.pdf">oil and gas industry</a>. </p>
<p>Local content is a highly topical issue and is here to stay on the continent. It’s also clear that key stakeholders, government and industry are favourably disposed to the value of local content as a sustainable proposition. </p>
<p>Bearing in mind the seemingly low quality of graduates and the pressing need for human capital development, it is imperative to consider local content policies that favour the development and improvement of higher education for practical impact.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Akanimo Odon is affiliated with African Centre for Technological Studies (ACTS Kenya) and Xn Foundation UK.</span></em></p>Huge investments have been made to develop Africa’s extractive industry. The challenge now is to forge collaboration between the industry and institutions of higher education to build a skills base.Akanimo Odon, Honorary/Visiting Fellow, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83592012-07-24T04:16:45Z2012-07-24T04:16:45ZIs more transparency for big miners the answer for developing countries?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13258/original/whd9vkq3-1343003638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The goals of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative are laudable; but an excessive focus on transparency and accountability doesn't always benefit developing host countries.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>A developed country, rich in natural resources, with relatively open and accountable governance lends its support to a global transparency initiative – what does this mean for the world’s poor? </p>
<p>It depends on how you view private governance mechanisms such as the <a href="http://eiti.org/">Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative</a>. While Australia’s pilot of the EITI is an important step in promoting improved extractive industry governance throughout the region, <a href="https://theconversation.com/show-me-the-money-should-big-miners-be-made-to-disclose-who-they-pay-8266">Sara Bice</a> is correct to question the effectiveness of this initiative in developing states such as Papua New Guinea.</p>
<p>The Initiative is the foremost form of private governance in the extractive industries and was created not to help OECD states such as Australia monitor government revenues, but instead to assist developing states in managing resource incomes. The <a href="http://eiti.org/countries">Initiative has 14 compliant and 22 candidate countries</a>, the majority of which are developing states.</p>
<p>Australia’s pilot scheme, however, does not support the goals of the EITI by monitoring Australian mining companies operating overseas; the responsibility for this lies with the host countries. In many cases international extractive firms, operating in developing states, are more powerful than their host governments, an issue which the EITI seeks to redress. However, even the industry’s own governance institution has faced push-back from powerful miners in regards to project-by-project disclosure, as Bice notes.</p>
<p>Proponents of the EITI argue that private governance can supplement state institutions in improving resource sector management. However, as Bice and others have shown, the power of multinational mining firms is unlikely to be overcome that easily.</p>
<p>Zambia’s experience with global extractive firms is indicative of what developing states such as PNG can look forward to. In 2007, the Zambian government sought to increase mining royalty and corporate tax rates from 0.6% and 3% to 25% and 30% respectively, yet failed due to significant resistance from more powerful mining interests.</p>
<p>Under the direction of Western donors, the Zambian government engaged the EITI to effectively privatise resource sector management. However, as explained below, membership is unlikely to be a panacea to the problem of poor resource management in Zambia, or in other developing states.</p>
<p>The EITI’s goals are laudable, yet they alone are not sufficient to break the cycle of poverty in developing states. Firstly, EITI standards apply only to revenues, ignoring the important expenditure side of developing government budgets.</p>
<p>Secondly, an excessive focus on transparency and accountability makes significant assumptions about civil society in developing states. It assumes that a civil society does not exist, or that it is ignorant to rampant corruption. </p>
<p>Instead, the opposite is often true: citizens are aware of patronage, yet are unable to protest corruption within the confines of authoritarian states. Supporters of the EITI argue that such initiatives create a vibrant civil society; instead, they in fact rely on a vibrant civil society to succeed. Just ask the citizens of EITI compliant countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad, who are yet to benefit from increased transparency.</p>
<p>Lastly, companies which operate in an EITI country and sign up as EITI “supporters” are required to do no more than any other company operating within the implementing country. The <a href="http://eiti.org/supporters/companies/howto">EITI website</a> notes that “[b]eing a supporter of the EITI does not require any reporting or disclosure requirements in addition to those for all companies operating in the relevant sectors in countries implementing the EITI”. Instead, membership of the EITI can mean added legitimacy and authority for firms, which are now able to lay claim to being “responsible corporate citizens”.</p>
<p>On this last point, Bice highlights the improved contributions mining firms are making to development goals through the funding of schools and hospitals, a vast improvement on community disasters of the past. This, however, ignores the fact that community development is simpler and more cost effective than supporting greater governance through measures such as an improved taxation system or transparency in the allocation of mining rights.</p>
<p>Australia’s support of the EITI is important and will complement that of others in the region – specifically, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. </p>
<p>However, Australia’s support does little to directly assist developing countries in which our many mining companies operate, such as PNG. These states continue to face issues of poor governance, exacerbated by strong international extractive firms which are able to push back on sector reform. </p>
<p>The implementation of the EITI’s accords, by developing states, should not be seen as a panacea - as outlined above the Institution faces significant challenges, foremost from its own members and supporters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8359/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ainsley Elbra does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A developed country, rich in natural resources, with relatively open and accountable governance lends its support to a global transparency initiative – what does this mean for the world’s poor? It depends…Ainsley Elbra, PhD candidate, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.