also be noted that opening up infrastructure can result in the destruction of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. The environment and social question
The development of either the mining or the hydrocarbons industry entails risks but also benefits to the environment and always imposes costs in some measure. The importance of planning ahead to maximize the benefits, minimize the risks, and manage the impact of EI activity on the environment is much better understood in the 21st century than it was before. The overabundance of toolkits, guidance, and standards shows both an appreciation of the problems and a confidence that preproject preparation can bring about benefits. Alternatively, it may demonstrate a concern about poor standards that influenced decision making in the past. However, in spite of greater knowledge, environmental and social questions remain enormously challenging, particularly when extractives activity occurs in sensitive or protected environments such as rainforest or coral reefs. (Areas needing attention can be expanded to include ecologically vulnerable environments; regions increasingly affected by climate change and prone to droughts and floods; or regions already depleted from previous exploration or extraction.) We cannot assume that mining should and will happen in all of these areas; it should not be allowed at all. Evidence of oil spills from tankers, pipelines or wells; of gas leaks; of mineral excavation; and even of disasters is all too abundant, in spite of important advances in technology and significant efforts by the respective industries. Damage may be long term and possibly irreversible. This is discussed in sections 9.4 to 9.5). The potential impacts of EI development on local communities, indigenous peoples, and women are much better understood now than in the past but still require determined action by policy makers—and enforcers—to be translated into benefits and, where there are risks, to take preventive and remedial measures. In particular, there is greater appreciation of the risks to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society who, by definition, are likely to have little impact on the design of policies. Based on all the foregoing considerations, governments have to decide whether or not to allow EI sector development. The decision should be guided by a comprehensive cost-benefit assessment and extensive public consultation incorporating best estimates of the social and environmental trade-offs of development.
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9.3 CHALLENGE 1: DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING POLICIES TO ENSURE THAT EI SECTOR INVESTMENTS CREATE POSITIVE AND SUSTAINABLE IMPACTS The problem
Substantial research and debate has focused on the role of public policy in leveraging EI investments to create longterm benefits to the host country.2 To some extent this level of interest is a reaction against previous thinking about development, in which the dominant policy objectives, recommended and often followed, were the attraction of inward investment and the use of oil, gas, and mining resources as a way of generating revenue. Not infrequently the benefits have enriched local elites at the expense of the general population, in contrast to the often implicit assumption that they would trickle down. The results of that narrowly economic focus are not generally regarded as having established a springboard for development.3 Instead of offering a range of benefits, extractives operations have all too often acquired an “enclave” character. They have been located in remote inland or offshore places far from the major population centers, and the economic development they have generated has been limited to a very tightly defined geographical area around the project. Moreover, the project has often involved a single company or consortium, managing a particular operation that is overwhelmingly dominant in the national economy. However, times have changed. In terms of environmental and social performance, operating “out of sight and out of mind” is no longer possible in the era of social media and instant news coverage. The focus among some governments and their advisers has shifted to finding ways of embedding the extractive activities in the evolving local economy, guided by broad plans for economic growth in the countries that host them. The African Mining Vision (AU 2009) has been a seminal document in this evolution in thinking, most recently by introducing a Private Sector Compact. It is based on the idea that the mining sector in Africa has to be evaluated on a regular basis in terms of its contribution to long-term development goals. It is a small step from this to giving greater weight to the use of EIs like mining to assist in the development of economic links and diversification. The assumption, sometimes explicit but always present, is that the EIs have the potential to provide this leverage for development purposes. However, to achieve sustainable and long-term benefits, these opportunities need to be consciously identified and pursued.
