Extractive Industries and Society-An International Journal最新文献

Workers in the Canadian construction and extractive industries (CEIs) are exposed to psychosocial risk factors (PRFs) and experience a greater prevalence of mental health issues than the public. Guided by risk management theory, the purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, correlational study was to examine the relationship between five predictors (age, gender, residence type, employment arrangement, and rotation status); and 15 response variables (measures of Canadian CEI workers’ perspective of PRFs). Using a cross-sectional design, an 84-question survey was administered to workers (N = 174) over the age of 18 to obtain demographic and contextual data and scores for the PRFs using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire – Canadian version. Analysis of variance was used to compare means across groups to determine if there was a difference in views of PRFs. The findings revealed significant relationships between the predictors and workers’ views on their influence at work, development opportunities, meaning of work, role conflict, work-life conflict, and social community. While workers’ experiences are largely unique, there are also clear influences on PRFs based on age, gender, and employment arrangement.

To address energy shortages, the South African government includes the development and extraction of local natural gas as part of its future energy plan. Insights into risk perception are crucial for determining realistic and likely risks relevant to future energy developments in the face of the country's future energy planning. Studies on the social construction of the risk perceptions of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) development are lacking since risk perceptions of UOG development in South Africa are not underpinned by tangible, lived experiences. This study, therefore, offers novel insights into the social construction of risk perceptions. We identified the risk objects, objects at risk, and factors influencing risk perceptions, and found that UOG development risk perceptions in South Africa are socially constructed through group membership and participation. The perceived rivalry between opposition and proposition groups prompts stakeholders to deliberately formulate ideas, opinions, and viewpoints to counter those of oppositional groups. We propose a risk communication strategy that considers the media's influence on stakeholders’ risk perceptions, aims to understand the different stakeholder groups’ views, intentions and expected behaviour, and tailors communication that acknowledges groups’ different goals and intentions. The proposed strategy considers the diverging opinions of the opposing groups in a collaborative effort to build trust in and between groups.

As societies attempt to transition to low-carbon energy and reduce fossil fuel dependencies, mineral extractivism is reaching new heights globally. This trend is accompanied by a surge of Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) standards used to justify a perceived just transition. Through an analysis of 13 widely used international instruments and the ways mining companies adopt them, this article develops a comparative examination of Western and Chinese ESG practices, with a focus on guidelines and standards aimed at mitigating the socio-environmental impacts of extractivism. Despite conventional portrayals of Western and Chinese governance standards as disparate or in competition, we find their standards evolve in tandem and conversation in the context of the rush for critical minerals, underscoring the need to move beyond a Western-Chinese binary. This research also challenges the notion of China attempting to set global standards. Chinese companies increasingly embrace ESG principles due to reputational risks, national standardization efforts, and international partnerships. They, however, focus more on downstream stakeholders, while Western counterparts lean towards upstream considerations. Notably, guidelines are employed similarly by Western and Chinese companies, albeit influenced by geographical, material, and political considerations. We conclude with future directions for critical and social science research on climate-related extraction.

Mining sustainability initiatives led by stakeholders from mineral-demanding countries have proliferated, encompassing regulations, voluntary standards, and guidelines aimed at ensuring responsible mining across supply chains. Focusing on lithium in South America, this article examines whether these initiatives address the main sustainability challenges posed by the mining industry and identifies their limitations. We analyze three initiatives relevant for that region: the European Batteries Regulation, the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, and the Recommendations for Responsible Lithium Mining by German automotive stakeholders. Sustainability challenges were identified and prioritized through a Delphi survey involving 141 participants. Our findings indicate that while most environmental and social sustainability issues are addressed by these initiatives, economic concerns, particularly those related to development, are often overlooked. The initiatives vary in their comprehensiveness, with IRMA being the most thorough. The study reveals that the approaches and procedures of these initiatives mainly reflect the priorities of lithium-demanding regions and adopt a corporate-centered due diligence approach, limiting their effectiveness in addressing some of the prioritized challenges. Finally, the study emphasizes the need for capability-development mechanisms to enhance the ability of lithium-rich countries to meet higher sustainability standards.

This article focuses on analyzing environmental governance in the context of the growing economic relations between China and Latin America, with particular attention to Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the South American extractive industries. Using novel data that match Chinese investment and local environmental reactions, the results strongly support a positive correlation between institutional capacity for environmental protection in recipient countries and an increase in local environmental concerns. I find that the escalation of activity by Chinese companies with greater state participation in the extractive industries raises the probability of generating environmental concerns in affected communities. These findings significantly contribute to understanding the complex interactions between Chinese investments and environmental governance, providing an essential foundation for addressing environmental challenges associated with Chinese FDI in Latin America.

The present research paper is an ethnographic account of the travails and resistance of an adivasi (native) community of India called Santhals. These adivasis are facing the threat of eviction due to a planned coal mining in the area, located in West Bengal, a state in the eastern part of India. Amid the ongoing protest against coal mines, many families are ready to give up their land for the project. Even differences in opinion are common among the leaders of those protest groups. These differences in perception about a coal mine project are the central theme of this paper. Drawing from it the paper is going to scrutinize the grand terms like ‘Affected Persons’, used in ‘National Mineral Policy 2019’ and ‘Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (2013)’, and ‘Local Community’ to show that any generalization or universalization of those various perceptions suppress the real needs of the people since they get affected in multiple ways. Further, this paper regards ‘development’ as ‘pharmakon’ for its dual nature, since people in the same community perceive it as poison; in contrast, for others, it is the remedy for their poverty. Tracing from all the varying voices, the paper finally argues for finding ‘significant others’, who are significantly excluded from decision-making.

Endowed with a significant proportion of the world’s petroleum and solid mineral resources, Africa is the location of a vibrant and dynamic extractive industries sector, which today, is its chief economic mainstay. The revenue generated from the extractive industries has been a significant source of finance for public infrastructure development and investments in education, health and the development of other economic sectors across the continent. However, the African extractive industries have faced massive setbacks in recent years, in particular due to the economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and the global transition to a low carbon economy that has formed a central part of ongoing efforts to respond to the climate change emergency. These challenges have accentuated concerns on the current and future relevance of the African extractive industries in a low-carbon economy world order.

This article examines the role played by the African extractive industries in the global energy transition, contextualising these concerns against a continuum of disruption arising as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and emergent efforts to redress the crisis posed by anthropogenic climate change. If well managed, extractive resources could play a crucial role in advancing energy security and transition in the African continent in the face of these challenges. In addition to its role in addressing current high levels of energy poverty across Africa in this disruptive setting, environmentally-responsible production of extractive resources can help sustain economic and social development across Africa in going forward. This article examines the current opportunities and challenges for cleaner and environmentally-responsible extractive investments in Africa in a low carbon world. It analyses the preconditions and barriers to environmentally-responsible fossil fuels developments in Africa and highlights the key considerations for African policymakers. Its analysis is informed by recognition of, and sensitivity towards, the extreme disruption to fossil fuel governance embodied by the twin concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current “climate emergency.” Through a qualitative analysis, this research has found that if well-managed, African resource-rich countries could utilise the revenues from the extractive industries to invest in low carbon technologies.

While vital for the development of ‘clean’ energy technologies, the extraction and processing of critical minerals and rare earth elements entail a range of overlapping social and environmental harms in local communities across the world. The transition to low-carbon economies invokes a host of multiscalar dilemmas, injustices and trade-offs, notably between the global imperative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the local consequences of mineral mining. There are profound barriers to delivering a just energy transition at a planetary scale given the reliance of green technologies upon socio-environmentally harmful extractive practices across critical mineral supply chains. Adopting an interdisciplinary lens and drawing from a set of international case studies, we critically examine the intersection of critical minerals with just transition governance and explore possibilities for more plural, holistic and integrated just energy transition pathways. In this introduction article, we detail the ways in which the production of low-carbon technologies is bound up with global inequalities and ongoing coloniality. We then demonstrate the importance of adopting a global, inclusive outlook on just energy transitions. Drawing from the concept of planetary just transition, we provide an overview of the key debates around the role of critical minerals in a just energy transition.

This research evaluated the impact of applying financial resources from mining exploitation (known as CFEM) on socio-environmental indicators in Parauapebas municipality, eastern Amazon. This study applies synthetic control methodology to establish a counterfactual for Parauapebas by weighting data from municipalities that did not experience the same impact due to the absence of mineral resources. We created synthetic indicators for before and after 1991, the initial year in which these royalties were received. Parauapebas municipality achieved a higher level of socio-environmental well-being with mining royalties than those without this activity. The rates (highest impact since 2000) for the population served with water were 3 %; sanitary sewage: 7 %; and waste collection: 3 %. Thus, resources allocation considers territory demands and expectations for the maintenance of municipality development. This research has important implications: it may guide the actions of various actors operating locally and support government development planning.

The extractive industries play a pivotal role in Nigeria's economy, yet it has been riddled with allegations of corrupt practices involving revenue transfers from operations to the government. To increase transparency and ensure public engagement, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) introduced the National Stakeholder Working Group (NSWG) as a mechanism to ensure public accountability and civil society organisations (CSOs) as the public interlocuter. To navigate this complex arrangement and critically evaluate its effectiveness, we adopt Boven's (2007) understanding of public accountability. We conclude that while NSWG provides oversight, the NEITI reporting process provides transparency, and the CSOs enable public accountability, these objectives are constrained by a challenging social and regulatory environment.