Resources

The momentum to re-empower people and re-establish their connection to natural resources is inevitable today. Participants of the HBS-Workshop in Hasankeyf worked on the chances of enviromental activism.

Food and agricultural policies are one of the main concerns for the people from México, Central America and the Caribbeans. New frameworks should f.e. respect ancestral farming practices.

The Future workshop in Hasankeyf, Turkey, with participants from Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt focused on solutions that could improve the current environmental situation in the Middle East.

To ensure that the oil, gas and mining sector is a blessing for all Cambodians, transparency is the key.

In the Future Workshop: "Resource Governance in 21st Century" participants from India and Afghanistan discussed possible solutions to key natural resource management problems.

In the Horn and East African region many conflicts arise over natural resources at community and even national level. Only a policy and legal framework could ensure protection of all the citizens' rights.

The predominant models of growth are completely misleading. The authors therefore are calling for a new approach that is "Rethinking Everything" that is linked with resource politics.

The production and distribution of natural resources are complex and multi-level. The participants of the Bangkok Future Workshop therefore discussed difficulties and solutions for the commons.

Resource-rich but low-income countries often lack a sustained and equitable development. Now an initiative for the extractive industry aims to support governments with new policies and practice.

Water as a main natural resource is severely stressed in Afghanistan, as many other natural resources in the country. Yet the economy is too weak to overcome current and future challenges.

Afghanistan is abundantly rich in natural resources. Although the country is facing a lot of problems, mining could have the potential to be a driver of poverty reduction and economic growth.

Renard Sexton is an International Expert on Resources and International Development. In this interview he explains the intimate and complex relationship of natural resources and conflict in Afghanistan.

Venezuela already overtook Saudia Arabia as the country with the largest oil reserves in the world and 2012 is likely to be a crucial year for the climate, as the country aims to ramp up production of huge reserves of tar sands-like crude in the eastern Orinoco River Belt. But economical exploitation comes with huge environmental concerns.

Madagascar is increasingly a target for extractives exploration and extraction.  Despite its unique eco-systems – the island is a biodiversity hotspot – extractive industries are regarded as one of the strategic pillars of the country’s future development. 

The huge 1,790 km square tar sands concession includes savannah, tropical rainforest and wetlands that are home to endangered bird species.The history of oil production in the Republic of Congo does not provide an encouraging scenario for future tar sands extraction. Testimonies by communities impacted by oil report intimidation by both the government and the oil companies.

In 2009 Trinidad and Tobago awarded a license to Petroleum Co. of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. to explore tar sands at Parrylands-Guapo fields, which are thought to contain 2 billion barrels of oil. An Institute of Energy and Mining has recently been established that will "cater for the specific needs of what, in effect, will be an entirely new part of the local oil industry".

With conventional oil production in decline, the global oil industry is investing heavily in dirtier and riskier forms of oil and also in unconventional resources, such as tar sands, and oil shale. All are difficult and costly to produce, usually more carbon intensive than conventional oil and may have calamitous long-term impacts on the local environment.