• IISD Home
• Our Knowledge
• About IISD
• Media Room
• Publications Centre
• Contact Us
• Site Index

• Security Home
• Publications
• Our Work

The Extractive Sector and Conflict

As a "frontier activity" often requiring entry into undisturbed ecosystems and traditional subsistence communities, extractive operations for natural resources such as oil, timber or minerals have become increasingly associated with violent conflict.

IISD's work in this area examines the links between the extractive sector and conflict, focusing on the types of interventions that businesses, governments and non-state actors can use proactively to prevent or resolve social tension.

• Enabling Corporate Investment in Peace: An Assessment of Voluntary Initiatives Addressing Business and Violent Conflict, and a Framework for Policy Decision-making (PDF - 410 kb) »  Jason Switzer and Halina Ward, 2004 This report was commissioned by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) to review the voluntary codes, guidelines and initiatives that address the relationship between business and violent conflict. It suggests a framework through which public policy makers can encourage more-responsible investment.

  • Policy brief (PDF - 357 kb)
  • Summary of public policy recommendations (PDF - 222 kb)
    
    

• Oil and Violence in Sudan (PDF - 371 kb) » Jason Switzer, 2002 In this case study for the African Centre for Technology Studies, the links between oil revenues, environmental impacts and social instability in Sudan are clarified, and recommendations for forging a lasting peace through attention to the environmental basis for livelihoods are advanced.

• Conflicting Interests: Introduction to Business and Conflict (PDF - 426 kb) » Jason Switzer, 2001 Written for the Environment Council's business periodical Elements, this article outlines the relationship between private sector activities and political instability. The author argues that proactive investment in conflict resolution may be a more cost-efficient way for firms to manage conflict than traditional reactive measures.

• Armed Conflict and Natural Resources: The Case of the Minerals Sector (PDF - 271 kb)»  Jason Switzer, 2001 As a "frontier activity" often requiring entry into undisturbed ecosystems and traditional subsistence communities, mining operations have become increasingly associated with violent conflict. This paper examines the links between the mining industry and conflict, focusing on the types of interventions that mining companies, governments and interested non-state actors can use proactively to prevent or resolve social tension.

• Oiling the Conflict: Petro-dollars and Caviar in the Caspian (PDF - 108 kb)»  Jason Switzer, 2001 The author argues that a reconciliation of the seemingly incompatible interests of the petroleum industry and the sturgeon fishery in the Caspian Sea would increase environmental security. Ensuring the long-term viability of the sturgeon fishery is in the interest of the oil companies, as doing so would decrease social tension and promote international cooperation over resource conservation, thereby contributing to the resolution of broader conflicts between the states.

Web Master - Copyright © 2010 International Institute for Sustainable Development