PREDATORY USAGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES "Central European Network for Sustainable and Innovative Economy", Poznań 28.01.2020 Prof. dr hab. Aldona Kamela-Sowińska Poznań University of Economics and Business (PUEB) The Global Risks Report, published by the World Economic Forum, provides a rich perspective on the major threats that may impact global prosperity in 2020 and over the next decade. The 15th edition of the report draws on feedback from nearly 800 global experts and decision-makers who were asked to rank their concerns in terms of likelihood and impact. Global Risks Report 2020 Economic and political polarization will intensify, collaboration is needed more than ever to respond to severe threats to climate, public health, and technology systems Risk outlook: the world in 2020 The Global Risks Report forecasts a year of increased domestic and international divisions with the added risk of economic slowdown. 78% of survey respondents said they expect „economic confrontations” and „domestic political polarization” to rise in 2020. Global experts also see the risk of extreme heatwaves and destruction of natural ecosystems increasing, as well as a rise in cyber-attacks targeting operations and infrastructure and data/money theft. Turbulence: The new normal PREDATORY USAGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES Natural resources Water Climate imigration Land grabbing Natural resources often lie at the heart of wars and civil strife. Huge, international mining and resource companies maneuver for control of enormously valuable oilfields and mineral lodes. There are many other players, including shadowy resource traders, smugglers, corrupt local officials, arms dealers, transport operators and mercenary companies. Increasing scarcity of resources further sharpens such conflicts, in which powerful governments and their military/intelligence arms are always deeply involved. WATER All living things require water to grow and reproduce. Water may be a "renewable" resource, but growing consumption puts increasing pressure on the world freshwater supplies. Local conflicts over water have long existed, but today a combination of water shortage and transboundary waterways gives rise to escalating international conflicts. The thirst world war will be fougth over the water. Water stress 3.1 Population growth 3.2 Expansion of business activity 3.3 Rapid urbanization 3.4 Climate change 3.5 Depletion of aquifers 3.6 Pollution and water protection 3.7 Water and conflicts 3.7.1 Shared water resources can promote collaboration 3.8 Water shortages LONDON London 'facing water crisis' "Water Scarcity Looms in London’s Future In recent years, London has suffering due to water shortages and sewage overflows as the city’s population steadily increases. Water demand is expected to exceed supply within the next decade, and severe water shortages could affect Britain’s capital by 2040. The 11 cities most likely to run out of drinking water; Sao Paulo, Moscow, Beijing, Istambul, Mexico City, Tokyo As UAE ever more severe water shortages, some experts are seriously considering a proposal to harvest Antarctica icebergs and haul them to Emirates. What are the chances it will succeed? There is an increasing need to invest in infrastructure and water efficiency technology to meet the future demand and to avoid a shortfall and to protect the natural enviroment. Sloane and Mougin aim to wrap the icerberg in a fabric mesh that could prevent it from melting Can Kidnapping a Giant Iceberg from Antarctica Solve Water Crisis? Water grabbing • UAE -fully-fledged mission to the United Arab Emirates, is forecast to cost around $100-150 million dollars. • This idea will provide solutions to the country’s water • shortage problems, providing fresh, drinkable water • to around one million people for up to 5 years. • the cost of this initiative will be lower than anything else • of the table. • The project, if successful, could have wider-reaching • implications with the United Nations forecasting • there could be a 40 % shortfall of freshwater worldwide • by 2030. Global water stress map Global water stress map Lake Chad is Disappearing The Lake Chad drainage basin depends on monsoon rains to replenish its water, and this rainfall has dropped dramatically since the early 1960s. If nothing change Lake Chad will disappear to 2050 r. The lake has been reduced from approximately 25,000 square kilometers in 1963 to only 1,350 square kilometers today. Climate migration, Environmental migrants or climate refugees Climate migrants are people who leave their homes because of climate stressors Wars Were Really About Commodities the entire periodic table of elements is the goal of war The Dark Side of Natural Resources –war and predatory usage Minerals such as cobalt, coltan, copper, uranium and gold have fueled many civil and interstate wars cross the world. Sometimes these minerals provide rebel groups with revenue to purchase arms, and sometimes they provide governments with the resources to establish a repressive military presence in mineral-producing regions. Oil and Natural Gas are the world's most valuable traded resources and probably the most conflict-prone. The world's great companies in the sector, roam the planet in search of new reserves, often generating wars and civil conflicts for control of the hugely profitable fields. Africa’s natural resources War and natural resource exploitation The story details a geologist's mineral discovery, and the preparations for the attack: soldier recruitment, training, reconnaissance, and the logistics of the coup d'état (buying weapons, transport, payment) to depose the government of the fictional African country of Zangaro to undertake the natural resources. 1974. Russia and China compete to beat the US in the trillion-dollar race to control the Arctic Call it a new cold war With more than half of all Arctic coastline along its northern shores, Russia has long sought economic and military dominance in part of the world where as much as $35 trillion worth of untapped oil and natural gas could be lurking. Now China is pushing its way into the Arctic, announcing its ambitions to develop a “Polar Silk Road” through the region as warming global temperatures open up new economic opportunities at the top of the world. The Pentagon’s Map of Afghanistan: An Eldorado of Mineral Wealth and Natural Resources, december 2019, The War is Worth Waging”: Afghanistan’s Vast Reserves of Minerals and Natural War The agricultural land in the world What is Land Grabbing? Land grabbing is a serious issue that affects the environment, economy, social welfare and human rights. Despite the global reach of land grabbing, there is no definition that fully captures the issue. Land grabbing is the issue of large-scale land acquisitions: the buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals. While used broadly throughout history, land grabbing as used in the 21st century primarily refers to large-scale land acquisitions following the 2007– 08 world food price crisis Obtaining water resources is usually critical to the land acquisitions, so it has also led to an associated trend of water grabbing The World Bank recently included Ukraine in the list of resource-rich and finance- poor countries that have become targets for land grabbing. The country possesses more than 25% of the world’s richest and most fertile soil, ‘Black Earth’, and was the Soviet Union’s ‘breadbasket’. What's driving land grabbing? Over-consumption and corporate led production of commodity crops, such as palm oil, soy, and sugarcane are the main drivers of land grabs. This book examines ethical and social issues of agriculture in a changing world, describes successful sustainable farming, water and land resource management and innovative livestock production from around the world, and discusses new paradigms and policies. Is there a link between Chinese chickens and pigs and the gradual disappearance of the Amazon rainforest? What about between European cows and the growth of suburban slums in Africa? At first sight, one would think there is none – but food is everything, and it’s in everything. Lords of Food A dozen companies own the majority of brands. In the US, around 75% of the pork meat market is in the hands of just four companies. The biggest of them controls 25% of the market .Smithfield has been recently bought by a Chinese firm, therefore becoming the world’s biggest pork meat producer A tiny number of huge transnational companies control the food systems as far as commercialization and distribution are concerned, moving like a swarm from one place to another. Its define them as locust-like firms, for they have the same predatory and mining-like approach as those insects. They treat natural resources the same way miners treat their mine: they work it until it is exhausted, and move on to the next one. Another essential feature that characterizes them is their size: they can use their economies of scale to remove small, independent producers out of the market easily. Everything starts off in North Carolina, the state that, alongside Iowa, is home to the greatest number of pig farms in the United States and a total of around 8-10 million pigs. In the space of a few years, small farms were replaced by intensive breeding farms, each housing around 10-20,000 heads of livestock. The biggest problem here is that animals are kept in overcrowded group-pens, as if they were living in a sort of city LAGOONS A typical waste lagoon in North Carolina. 20 Million gallon fertilizer lagoons. Each group of eight barns is called a site; each site houses 8,832 pigs. The environmental impact of pig farming refers to the threats posed to the natural environment by large-scale intensive pig farming. Industrial pig farming, poses numerous threats to the environment. With Hurricane Florence, these lagoons are spilling into the environment.