3211
Fourth St., NE. Washington, DC 20
017.
Tel: (202)541-3160
Fax:
(202)541-3339
The
international community has an urgent duty to find institutional means of regulating
the exploitation of non- renewable resources, involving poor countries in the process,
in order to plan together for the future.
-Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas
in Veritate, No. 49, 2009
What
is the Issue?
The
extraction of natural resources, such as oil, gas, copper, coal, lumber, and
diamonds, is a central feature of modern economies, one that creates new
opportunities and imposes new burdens. Poorly-governed regions, indigenous
lands, conflict-ridden areas, and untouched environments have been opened up
for mining and exploitation. Extractive industries can bring progress, but when
exploited, they can also bring social conflict, feed corruption, displace
people from their homes and lands, pollute rivers and seas, destroy people’s
health,
and
cause irreversible biodiversity loss. In the Delta region of Nigeria and the BP
oil spill in the Gulf, we saw how poorly assessed risks can cause human
suffering, damage to the environment, and investment losses. The important
potential contributions of mining, oil, and other extractive industries to
human development and the common good depend on employing practices that
respect human life and dignity and the environment.
Too
often, people end up suffering not only from the effects of badly managed
extractive operations but also the conflicts created by the struggle over
control of the wealth generated. In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), for example, militias and government forces struggle to gain control
over lucrative mines that can finance the purchase of arms to wage civil war.
Civilians are caught in the crossfire. Sexual violence perpetrated against
women is a way to terrorize and destabilize communities, making them more
vulnerable in
the
struggle for dominance in these mineral rich regions. (See DRC backgrounder for
more information.)
Why
should Catholics care?
The
Church’s social teaching calls on Catholics to uphold the life and dignity of
every human person, to be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters
worldwide, and to care for God’s creation. Since the extraction of oil, gas,
minerals, and timber affects the poor most acutely, the Church has been
addressing issues related to extractive industries around the world. Catholic
agencies and affected people have been engaged in advocacy with their own
governments, international financial institutions, and extractives companies,
urging them to
become
more transparent, to reduce the negative impacts of resource extraction on
people and the environment, and to increase benefits for the poor most
especially. In the U.S. bishops’ first statement on environmental matters,
Renewing
the Earth (1991), they draw attention to the ethical dimensions of the
ecological crisis, exploring the link between ecology and poverty and the implications
for human life and dignity. Bishops of every part of the world have expressed
concern regarding
extractive
industries. Indeed, Pope Benedict XVI, expanding on the issue of the
environment in Caritas in Veritate, stated:
Let us hope
that the international community and individual governments will succeed in
countering harmful ways of treating the environment. It is likewise incumbent
upon the competent authorities to make every effort to ensure that 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: the protection of the
environment, of resources and of the climate obliges all international leaders
to act jointly and to show a readiness to work in good faith, respecting the
law and promoting solidarity with the weakest
regions of
the planet (No. 50).
3211 Fourth St., NE. Washington, DC 20017. Tel: (202)541-3160
Fax: (202)541-3339
Department
of Justice, Peace and Human Development
Office
of International Justice and Peace
Background
on Extractive Industries February 2012
To
protect the lives and dignity of poor people and to assure that potential
benefits of natural resource extraction are realized, all parties involved in
the extractive industry sector -producers and consumers - need to adjust their
practices and work together.
USCCB and
CRS urge the U.S. government to:
·
Support
the ability of governments to manage extractive revenues in ways that reduce
corruption and promote human development in areas such as education and health;
·
Provide
development assistance so that governments and civil society in poor countries
can promote human rights, democracy, and transparent, responsive government;
and
·
Put
in place social and environmental standards thatensure respect for communities,
workers, human rights, and the environment, and that promote availability of
information on extractive projects.
We urge
extractive industry companies to:
·
Fully
respect human rights and the environment;
·
Collaboratively
engage with communities where extractive projects are implemented to assure
that
information
is freely available and local communities are involved in decisions that affect
them; and
·
Continue
to examine their policies and practices in determining the source of these
minerals for transparency so that in sourcing minerals and precious stones,
they safeguard human rights, human dignity, and the environment.
We invite
U.S. Catholics to:
·
Respond
to action alerts and other invitations for engagement to help support policies
promoting resource
use
that contributes to human development, promote human rights, and reduce
conflict.
·
Be
thoughtful consumers by Reducing, reusing and recycling to lessen the need for extraction
of natural resources (explore ways to
reduce
use of gasoline and donate or recycle old phones, computers, and computer
games, etc.); Writing to companies and asking them to: a) produce “conflict
free” and environmentally friendly goods; and b) fully implement the new laws
on transparency in payments to governments and sourcing of conflict minerals;
and Purchasing diamonds, jewelry, electronics, and other articles that are
certified “conflict free” and made
with
“clean” materials that were mined with respect for the environment and human
rights.
Actions on
Extractive Industries
During
2010, USCCB and CRS succeeded in urging members of Congress to pass two
important provisions into law that now: Require companies listed in the U.S.
stock exchange to publish what they pay to governments in countries where they
extract oil, gas and minerals(a vital tool for reducing corruption and helping people
hold their governments accountable for how revenues are used); and Require
companies to report on their sources of gold, tin, tungsten, and tantalum
(coltan) so as to assure that the minerals they use do not benefit human rights
violators
.
In
2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published proposed rules for
implementing these provisions. USCCB and CRS have advocated for effective rules
to ensure that people in the DRC and other developing countries benefit. These
rules have been the subject of an extensive comment period, public hearings and
concerted industry lobbying to weaken the rules. We need to remain engaged by
supporting effective systems of regulation, and by communicating to Congress
the need to continue funding regulatory
agencies,
such as the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, with resources
that will be adequate to permit them to implement and enforce these prudential
regulatory standards.
For
further information,
visit
www.usccb.org/about/international-justice-and-peace/
or
contact
Richard
Coll.,
Office of International Justice and Peace,
USCCB,
202-541-3153 (phone
);
202-541-3339 (fax);
rcoll@usccb.org
or
Rees
Warne,
Catholic
Relief Services,
410-951-7274;
rwarne@crs.org
