INDIGENIOUS PEOPLE ARE THE MOST AFFECTED BY RECKLESS MINING
May 4, 2016 ·
The case of mining is quite different from agriculture. If agriculture is about cultivating and caring for the land, mining is about extracting resources—typically in pursuit of profit, often short-term profit divorced from the common good. Pope Francis is clear about this: “The earth’s resources are also being plundered because of short-sighted approaches to the economy, commerce and production.” (§32)
In Laudato si’, Pope Francis discusses the important idea of an ecological debt: “A true ‘ecological debt’ exists, particularly between the global north and south, connected to commercial imbalances with effects on the environment, and the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time.” (§51) It is too often the case that multinational corporations outsource not only economic activity, but they ‘outsource morality’ too—by treating the host countries in ways they would not treat their home countries, with often devastating impacts on the environment. Unfortunately, many of the culprits are in the mining sector: “The export of raw materials to satisfy markets in the industrialized north has caused harm locally, as for example in mercury pollution in gold mining or sulphur dioxide pollution in copper mining.” (§51)
Given this stark indictment, can we say that mining is an ethical industry? The answer is yes—it can be and it must be! The key is to intervene in nature with an ethic of care rather than a mentality of disrespect, or even violence. These interventions cannot be based on short-term profit maximization. Rather, Pope Francis says, “only when ‘the economic and social costs of using up shared environmental resources are recognized with transparency and fully borne by those who incur them, not by other peoples or future generations’, can those actions be considered ethical.” (§195)
Along similar lines, he says the following: “In the face of possible risks to the environment which may affect the common good now and in the future, decisions must be made ‘based on a comparison of the risks and benefits foreseen for the various possible alternatives’. This is especially the case when a project may lead to a greater use of natural resources, higher levels of emission or discharge, an increase of refuse, or significant changes to the landscape, the habitats of protected species or public spaces” (§184).
All businesses, including in the mining sector, are called upon to support the common good by investing in sustainability. This is not just good for the planet, but it is a good investment for the business itself. As Pope Francis says, “efforts to promote a sustainable use of natural resources are not a waste of money, but rather an investment capable of providing other economic benefits in the medium term” (§191).
I should say a special word here about coal mining. Coal is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, and it needs to be phased out. Laudato si’ is clear about this: “We know that technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels – especially coal, but also oil and, to a lesser degree, gas – needs to be progressively replaced without delay.”(§165) Yet the transition to renewable energy needs to be based on justice—the miners, especially those who have no hope of finding alternative employment, must be cared for.
Both agriculture and mining – When it comes to both agriculture and mining, Pope Francis is acutely aware of the particular struggles faced by indigenous peoples. Too often “pressure is being put on them to abandon their homelands to make room for agricultural or mining projects which are undertaken without regard for the degradation of nature and culture” (§146). And what is true for indigenous peoples also applies to many, if not all, peasant producers and marginalized peoples. At the end of the day, we need a global consensus that “could lead, for example, to planning a sustainable and diversified agriculture, developing renewable and less polluting forms of energy, encouraging a more efficient use of energy, promoting a better management of marine and forest resources, and ensuring universal access to drinking water” (§164).
