September 16, 2019
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GLIMSC 2025 Committee

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GLIMSC 2025 Committee

Committee: United Nations Environmental Programme
Topic: The Impact of Resource Extraction

What is Resource Extraction?
Resource extraction is defined as the withdrawing of natural environmental resources for human uses. The resources that are extracted include everything from fossil fuels like oil, natural gas, and coal to plants and animals used for human consumption, to minerals like copper, tungsten, and cobalt that are critical for technology. Even something like water could fall into this category. Natural resources are used in nearly all aspects of our day-to-day lives. The food and water we consume every day, the fuel used to power our cars, even the materials in our phones and computers, these are all examples of how important natural resources are to nearly everything we do. However, because of how important these resources are, it can be tempting to try and acquire them without considering the impact of their extraction. The role of this committee will be to ensure that methods of resource extraction are both sustainable and fair.

Environmental Impact
Resource extraction poses many risks to the environment, including habitat destruction, pollution, and increased global warming. These risks result from the methods used to extract resources, as well as the impact of the loss of the resources on the surrounding environment. For example, processes like logging can divide habitats, leading to biodiversity loss and even eventual extinction. Even the loss of small species of plants or animals can have drastic impacts on the ecosystem as a whole, throwing not only the environment out of balance, but also disrupting other human industries. This ends up limiting both the sustainability of these enterprises and the overall health of our planet. 

Many extraction processes frequently cause pollution, which negatively affect air, soil, and water quality alike. For example, open-pit mineral mining and drilling often releases dust and harmful gases into the air because of the explosions used in the mining process. Air pollution is a direct result of this and can affect both citizens’ lives and other important industries like agriculture. Soil pollution often results from metal mining in particular, which can release harmful residual materials (known as sludge) into the soil. Sea-based extraction can release contaminants into the water as well. 

One especially controversial method of resource extraction is called “fracking,” and is commonly used by the oil and gas industry. Fracking is a process that involves blasting water and other fluids into the ground at an extremely high pressure to “fracture” rock containing oil and natural gas. Not only does this waste enormous amounts of water, but what is known as “fracking fluid” contains a large number of chemicals. This process is inefficient and causes a lot of greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere, adding to the dangers of climate change. 

Politics and Conflict
Beyond the environmental issues associated with resource extraction, there are also political implications in many countries. Many conflicts around the world occur because of unequal resource distribution and access to extraction sites themselves. The practice of illegal resource extraction poses large problems for some countries, particularly in areas with political unrest. Illegal resource extraction and trafficking fuels political corruption and fraud and can contribute to national and regional instability. 

The United Nations has identified some characteristics that can lead to what it calls “extractive industry-related conflicts” (aka conflicts related to the extraction of resources). These characteristics include the inequitable distribution of resources and related benefits, the exclusion and exploitation of local communities from the extraction process, the potential for corruption and fraud in funding extraction efforts, the local environmental and economic impacts, and the overall lack of regulation. 

Often, the countries or groups who take on the largest risks in the extraction process often do not get the benefits. Locals are often the ones on the ground doing the extraction, but the resources they find are exported and distributed to other countries and industries. This exploitation of local workers can lead to rebellion and broader regional conflict. Some examples include cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the jade industry in Myanmar, gold mining in Brazil, diamond mining in South Africa, and copper mining in Papua New Guinea.

Sometimes governments take advantage of their own local communities when extracting resources. They might force people off their land, pay workers unfair wages, or even use threats and violence to keep control. Often, government officials make secret deals with foreign companies or other countries, selling the minerals for a lot of money while keeping the profits for themselves. Corruption, like lying about how much money is made or giving fake promises to help the community, is common. Meanwhile, the local people, whose land and resources are being used, are left with pollution, destroyed land, and no share of the wealth. This relationship contributes to what is called the “resource curse.” The “resource curse” refers to a pattern across many nations with plentiful natural resources where, despite having the potential for significant economic success, they tend to struggle to reap the economic benefits of those resources. 

Because of the close involvement of governments in these unfair processes, there are not many incentives for those governments to create laws to regulate the process of resource extraction. The lack of regulations allows the process to continue and can make the negative effects of the “resource curse” even worse.

What is Being Done?
The controls that are currently in place to regulate resource extraction are inconsistent and sometimes ineffective. When addressing the problems associated with resource extraction, nations often struggle balancing the desire to increase sustainability and cut down on environmental harms with their own political and economic interests. In many cases, countries tend to value economic success over future concerns related to the environment. Similarly, many political problems result from economic interests, and the corruption that goes with many of these situations makes it difficult to enforce regulations.

Some countries and international groups have tried to reduce the negative effects of resource extraction by making new laws and agreements. For example, some governments require mining companies to clean up pollution and repair damaged land after they finish extracting resources. Others have rules to make sure local communities get a fair share of the money made from their land’s resources. International agreements, like the Kimberley Process, try to stop the sale of “conflict diamonds,” which are mined in war zones and used to fund violence. However, these controls do not always work well. Some governments ignore or change the rules when it benefits them, and corruption can make it hard to enforce laws. Many countries also struggle to balance protecting the environment with making money from selling resources. While there are efforts to make mining and drilling more responsible, real change is difficult when economic and political interests get in the way.

Focus Questions
The issue of resource extraction is very broad, and this committee can approach it in a number of ways. You should consider the following as you are preparing: 

  1. What environmental protections could make the process of resource extraction safer?
  2. Are there any particular methods of resource extraction that should be banned or limited? Alternatively, are there any that countries should be encouraged to use?
  3. What level of control should national governments have in determining how resources in their countries are extracted or sold?
  4. How can we ensure countries are engaging in resource extraction fairly and without causing unnecessary conflict?
  5. For any standards or regulations, how can we encourage countries to follow them?

Additional Resources