Despite concerns over the environmental impact of industrial mining and the contribution that fossil fuels make to global warming, resource extraction continues to be a major source of revenue for both developing countries and wealthier nations alike. In fact, new data show that the amount of resources being pulled from the earth has tripled since 1970, though the global population has only doubled in that time.
Amid global efforts to reduce carbon emissions as part of climate change diplomacy, fossil fuels remain among the most prized extractives, for a simple reason: Global demand combined with the wealth they generate continues to give some countries, including members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, outsized global influence.
The lucrative contracts associated with the extractive sector help to explain why resource extraction remains central to many developing countries’ strategy to grow their economies. But the windfalls don’t come without risks, most prominent among them being the “resource curse” that can plague countries that fail to diversify their economies to generate alternate sources of revenue. Corruption can also thrive, especially when government institutions are weak. And when the wealth generated from resource extraction isn’t fairly distributed, it can entrench a permanent elite, as in Saudi Arabia, or fuel persistent conflicts, as in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The environmental impact of fossil fuels is driving some changes, in particular a push to develop renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. But the transition to renewable energy sources is slow to develop, even as its long-term financial viability remains uncertain.
WPR has covered a broad range of issues regarding energy and resource extraction, and continues to examine key questions about future developments. Will renewable energy sources eventually overtake fossil fuels? Or, as countries begin to transition away from more heavily criticized energy sources, like coal, will they replace them with other fossil fuels, like natural gas? What can countries do to avoid the resource curse? Below are some of the highlights of WPR’s coverage.
Our Most Recent Coverage
A Secret Energy Deal With Brazil Plunges Paraguay Into CrisisSmall, landlocked Paraguay has been engulfed in a political storm that saw both its president and vice president nearly impeached in August. The crisis began on July 23 when Pedro Ferreira, the head of the National Electricity Administration, resigned, claiming that he was being pressured to add his signature to a secret energy deal with Brazil that had been negotiated behind closed doors by high-ranking officials in May. Ferreira described the deal as constituting “high treason.” The agreement, which was canceled by Paraguay and Brazil on Aug. 1 as the backlash against it rose, dictated unfavorable conditions for Paraguay’s electricity consumption from the colossal Itaipu Dam, the second-largest hydroelectric dam in the world, which is jointly owned and operated by the two countries.
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