July 2010 Ecological Debt Debt Extractive Industries and Climate Change INTRODUCTION environmental space to deposit Contrary to rhetoric, Foreign Direct wastes, such as greenhouse gases, Investment does not „flow‟ into Third from the industrial countries.‟ 2 The World countries. Instead, „capital term came into professional use in “hops” over “unusable Africa,” 1992 at the Earth Summit of the alighting only in mineral-rich United Nations in Rio de Janeiro of enclaves that are starkly 1992, with NGOs promoting the disconnected from their national concept through an „Alternative societies. The result is not the Treaty‟ and has evolved formation of standardized national considerably to become crucial to grids, but the emergence of huge the South-North resistance areas of the continent that are narratives.3 effectively “off the grid,”‟ as James Ferguson argues.1 The leading scientist in the field, Autonomous University of But Africa is sufficiently on the world Barcelona‟s Joan Martinez-Alier, grid for the purpose of not only calculates ecological debt in many mineral/petroleum extraction, but forms: „nutrients in exports including also abuse of the continent‟s virtual water, the oil and minerals no „ecological space‟ and capacity to longer available; the biodiversity use nature for economic destroyed; sulfur dioxide emitted by development. But being on-grid for copper smelters; the mine tailings; resource extraction and the harms to health from flower environmental exploitation is a curse. exports; the pollution of water by It gives rise to the argument that the mining; the commercial use of Northern industrialized powers owe information and knowledge on the non-industrial South – especially genetic resources when they have Africa - a formal debt for taking too been appropriated gratis much ecological space, and for („biopiracy‟ and agricultural genetic ripping out non-renewable resources resources.‟ As for the North‟s „lack of in an unsustainable manner. payment for environmental services or for the disproportionate use of According to the Ecuador-based Environmental Space,‟ Martinez-Alier advocacy group Accion Ecologica: criticizes „imports of solid or liquid „ecological debt is the debt toxic waste and free disposal of gas accumulated by Northern, industrial residues (carbon dioxide, CFCs, countries toward Third World etc).‟4 countries on account of resource plundering, environmental damages, and the free occupation of ECONOMIC JUSTICE NETWORK of FOCCISA Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa 1 July 2010 How much is at stake? Berkeley, generated a crucial The sums involved are potentially finding: „At least to some extent, the vast, to the point of incalculability, rich nations have developed at the both in terms of extraction and expense of the poor and, in effect, ecological debt. As Martinez-Alier there is a debt to the poor.‟10 puts it, „tropical rainforests used for Another route into the intellectual wood exports have an extraordinary challenge of calculating ecological past we will never know and debt was taken by the World Bank in ongoing biodiversity whose its estimates of tangible wealth (in destruction we cannot begin to the 2006 book Where is the Wealth of value.‟ However, „although it is not Nations?). In addition to resource possible to make an exact depletion and rent outflows, there accounting, it is necessary to are also other subsoil assets, timber establish the principal categories resources, non-timber forest and certain orders of magnitude in resources, protected areas, order to stimulate discussion. If we cropland and pastureland to take the present human-made account for. The „produced capital‟ emissions of carbon, [this represents] normally captured in GDP a total annual subsidy of $75 billion is accounting is added to the tangible forthcoming from South to North.‟ 5 wealth, but the result of a „genuine Leading ecofeminist Vandana Shiva6 wealth‟ accounting leaves vast and former South Centre director negative adjustments to every Yash Tandon7 estimate that wild African country. With the sole seed varieties alone account for $66 exceptions of Botswana, Mauritius, billion in annual biopiracy benefits to Namibia, Seychelles and Swaziland, the US. There are dozens of examples all others have explicitly negative net of biopiracy in Africa, according to a year-on-year changes once 2005 study commissioned by the environmental corrections to GDP Edmonds Institute and African are made (using 2000 as a sample Centre for Biosafety.8 year).11 Notwithstanding the World Bank‟s conservative counting bias,12 A partial ecological debt Africa shows evidence of net per accounting was published by capita „wealth‟ reduction, largely environmental scientists in early 2008, traceable to the extraction of non- and counted $1.8 trillion in concrete renewable resources that is not damages over several decades.9 counterbalanced by capital According to co-author Richard investment from firms doing the Norgaard, ecological economist extraction. at the University of California, 2 July 2010 African countries’ national wealth reduction, adjusted for extraction, 2000 Income per Population Adjusted net Change in capita ($) growth rate saving per wealth per (%) capita ($) capita ($) Benin 360 2.6 14 -42 Botswana 2925 1.7 1021 814 Burkina Faso 230 2.5 15 -36 Burundi 97 1.9 -10 -37 Cameroon 548 2.2 -8 -152 Cape Verde 1195 2.7 43 -81 Chad 174 3.1 -8 -74 Comoros 367 2.5 -17 -73 Rep of Congo 660 3.2 -227 -727 Côte d’Ivoire 625 2.3 -5 -100 Ethiopia 101 2.4 -4 -27 Gabon 3370 2.3 -1183 -2241 The Gambia 305 3.4 -5 -45 Ghana 255 1.7 16 -18 Kenya 343 2.3 40 -11 Madagascar 245 3.1 9 -56 Malawi 162 2.1 -2 -29 Mali 221 2.4 20 -47 Mauritania 382 2.9 -30 -147 Mauritius 3697 1.1 645 514 Mozambique 195 2.2 15 -20 Namibia 1820 3.2 392 140 Niger 166 3.3 -10 -83 Nigeria 297 2.4 -97 -210 Rwanda 233 2.9 14 -60 Senegal 449 2.6 31 -27 Seychelles 7089 0.9 1162 904 South Africa 2837 2.5 246 -2 Swaziland 1375 2.5 129 8 Togo 285 4.0 -20 -88 Zambia 312 2.0 -13 -63 Zimbabwe 550 2.0 53 -4 Source: World Bank, Where is the Wealth of Nations?, p.66. 3 July 2010 In part, minerals depletion and are amongst the world‟s least associated pollution costs are a transparent.13 Against these elites, function of expanded foreign direct diverse forces in society have moved investment. Even in South Africa, away from considering oil merely a mineral depletion today matter of private property, to be disproportionately benefits overseas negotiated between corporations mining houses (especially given that and governments, as was the case some of the largest Johannesburg during much of the 20th century. firms relisted their primary share Instead, these forces now treat oil as residences to London after 1994). In part of a general „commons‟ of a addition, CO2 emissions plus a great national society‟s natural resource deal of other pollution (especially SO2) base.14 From a September 2005 are largely the result of energy conference in Johannesburg consumption by metals smelters organized by the South African NGO owned by large multinational GroundWork, delegates petitioned corporations (Mittal Steel, BHP Billiton the World Petroleum Congress: and the Anglo group). Any assessment of FDI, especially in oil and At every point in the fossil fuel resource rich countries, must production chain where your henceforth take into account its members „add value‟ and contribution to the net negative make profit, ordinary people, impact on national wealth, including workers and their environments the depletion and degradation of the are assaulted and resource base. Once such impoverished. Where oil is accounting is done, it is obvious that drilled, pumped, processed a great deal of mineral/petroleum and used, in Africa as extraction does not make economic elsewhere, ecological systems sense when not counteracted with have been trashed, peoples‟ longer-term investments that balance livelihoods have been an export-oriented economy with destroyed and their internal accumulation. democratic aspirations and their rights and cultures For the bias thus introduced into trampled.15 African economies, a debt can be attributed to the beneficiaries in the Some governments of the South – North. There are, of course, also especially Bolivia – are introducing the African elites who benefit from the concept, and some African extraction, as allies of Northern governments have made preliminary corporations. As demonstrated by the steps toward demanding ecological Open Society-backed campaign, debt, starting with the largest „Publish what you Pay‟, elites in component, climate debt. But the Africa‟s oil producing countries - state of advocacy remains extremely Angola, Chad, Congo, Equatorial uneven. Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria and Sudan - 4 Can Africa transcend carbon trading to demand eco-debt repayment? Those most responsible for taking credibility crises and price volatility advantage of Africa‟s natural problems – with the 2008-09 „value‟ resources should pay reparations, of a tonne of CO2 falling from €30 at according to the principle of peak to less than €9 – the question „polluters pay‟, now that there is emerged whether CDMs were not near-universal awareness of the fundamentally flawed as a strategy damage being done by rising for climate financing.17 greenhouse gas emissions, and by the ongoing stubborn refusal by the The apparent demise of carbon rich to cut back. In 1997 at the Kyoto trading in the 2009-10 legislative Protocol negotiations, the Global session of the US Senate made this North offered to assist Africa strategy a losing proposition not only financially through „Clean for Africa but also at the global Development Mechanism‟ (CDM) scale. Even without the expected projects, in a context of declining Washington gridlock (mainly as a overseas development aid result of sabotage by powerful fossil associated with the end of the Cold fuel interests), carbon trading had War.
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