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Diversification of employment opportunities into non-farm, non-mining activities will be critical to safeguarding Ecuador’s rainforest. However, this is easier said than done.

Although participation in the decision-making process has increased in the last twenty years in Latin America, genuine participation of local people in environmental governance has been far from reality. Local communities’ level of autonomy in sha...

Yasuní, situated in the Amazon, is one of the most biologically-diverse parks in the world and it hosts several indigenous groups, of which two are living in voluntary isolation.

The root causes of many resource-related conflicts, hidden or openly violent and armed, are grounded within power constellations around conflicting interests. Within those power dynamics, national and global economic influences often override loca...

Geopolitical action is required to cope with the enormous resource challenges that lie ahead.

Actividades extractivas tienen que integrar los intereses estratégicos y las urgencias económicas de los gobiernos con las demandas de los pueblos indígenas.

The suffering of the Palestinians forced off their land is not due to climate change or drought; it is the result of unchecked political forces.

Restricting the mining industry’s access to raw materials will narrow the profit base for mining companies and metal traders, but it will pay dividends on many other levels.

By growing its own soy instead of importing it, Europe can solve soy conflicts – and yield the benefits.

In India, some of the most contentious land conflicts over the past decade have involved public-private partnerships.

Until the demand decreases for extreme crude, the conflict between rights and resources will continue.

Latin American societies and states formed around the disputes about control over natural resources, as Bolivian intellectual Rene Zavaleta highlighted. In Bolivia, from the 16th to the 19th century, the exploitation of silver in Potosí and the ex...

Most discussions of power in natural resource management tend to omit the primary issue of capitalism.

The mining issue in South Africa is highly complex and is an excellent  ‘experimental’ site for those interested in environmental conflict resolution. 

Colombia no es la excepción de adquisiciones masivas de tierras en el mundo.

Deforestation-related conflict reflects the power relations between forest users.

The expansion of the extractive frontiers affects the territories of local populations in Latin America.

In 2007, Ecuador launched the Yasuní-ITT initiative, a proposal to leave oil in the soil of the Yasuní National Park in exchange for financial compensation from the international community.

Land grabbing is an expression of the dominant development model based on production and consumption patterns in which financial capital reigns.

Although the modalities of power employed in resource struggles are all different and context-specific, a recurrent element of these struggles is the use of discursive power.

To really tackle the resource curse, local communities need to obtain a meaningful and informed position in consultation processes, at the negotiation table and in monitoring panels.

Ecosystems scientist Mark Everard makes a compelling case for the necessity of a more sustainable relationship between humanity and the water cycle.

In natural resource management, the issue is not bringing politics back in or taking it out, but the conditions under which issues are politicized.

There is no easy answer to the question of the fate of Ecuador’s Yasuní-ITT region, but a few key steps can maximize the areas of agreement of the many vested interests.

While overcoming dependence is key, abundance of natural resources is not a bad thing in itself.

African governments must implement a series of policies to make sure that natural resource wealth brings more inclusive and equitable growth.

This dossier on ‘Power dynamics and natural resources’ contains five case-study articles and a synthesis summary on the power dynamics underlying both ‘open’ and ‘hidden’ conflicts over natural resources. The dossier also comprises a debate with t...

How to eradicate the root causes of resource conflicts?

The reality behind the game of who gets what, when and how when it comes to natural resources, reveals a power play in which deprived groups in society get the short end of the stick. It also portrays an inherent tension between environmental prot...

Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen are embroiled in an enduring dispute over the use of fishing grounds in the Palk Bay. The dispute is not only a matter of big India versus small Sri Lanka, or big boats versus small boats. Rather, Sri Lankan Tamil f...

‘A big idea from a small country’. This is how Ecuador promoted its proposal to leave oil in the soil of Yasuní National Park in exchange for financial compensation from the international community. Yet, in August 2013– six years after its officia...

Natural resource conflicts take many forms, and they are particularly complicated by scope and scale.

In Ghana and Ethiopia, the anticipated positive local economic effects of the cultivation of biofuel stock have been counterbalanced by disputes between local farmers and largely foreign biofuel stock companies. Land has been sold to foreign inves...

The rising production of soy for the global market has been one of the main drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. This is not only affecting the biodiversity of the Amazon region, but is also engendering severe violent conflicts in the...

The Peruvian region Madre de Dios is the scene of an enduring dispute between small-scale miners and the authorities over the use of land. In an attempt to formalize the small-scale mining sector, the Peruvian government has declared all small-sca...

 Minerals play an important role in the Congolese conflict. But it is certainly not only about greed.

The fishing dispute between India and Sri Lanka is not only an issue of sovereignty, but also reflects social and economic problems.

A fisheries conflict in Canada shows how power dynamics affect the lives of an aboriginal community.

Resource-rich Africa must expand its industrial sector on its way to economic inclusiveness.

Ghana needs to focus more on local production and value addition in order to bring its marginalized citizens on board.  

If we want sustainable management of our natural resources to be part of the post-2015 world, an understanding of the water-energy-food nexus is required.

Fundamental systemic change is needed, starting with a cultural paradigm shift based on appreciation of our environment.

Africa is gaining increasing global economic importance, but it has to address logistical and policy impediments to fully benefit from it.

More diversification and better reinvestment of natural resource revenues can ensure that foreign investments in Africa contribute to inclusive growth.

The approaches and measures China chooses to address its water challenges could add to future problems.

Non-renewable groundwater abstraction leading to groundwater depletion has global dimensions. It should therefore be addressed by a mix of solutions in cooperative projects between international and regional experts and local stakeholders.

The public-public partnerships that are currently being implemented throughout Latin America are an important, but often neglected, alternative to water sector privatization. 

Cooperation with private corporations is a serious threat to the human right to water.

The world of faith is a powerful and often neglected partner in the effort to overcome water challenges.

To combat scarcity, leaders must work together to increase water-use efficiency in agriculture.

The implications of climate change on WRM and WASH need to be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda. 

The important role and value of groundwater calls for global sustainable groundwater management.

Worldwide, companies have started to explore the water footprint of their products. The creator of the water footprint concept, Arjen Hoekstra, gives some background.

The impact of mining on the quality of water resources should be given a place on the global agenda.

Defining the SDGs and the associated indicators will not be easy but the global community should make an extensive effort to put sustainability high on the post-2015 water agenda.

The post-2015 agenda on water calls for more cohesion and less pragmatism.

The only way to overcome the water crisis is to redouble our efforts to reform the public sector

Water security requires a different perspective towards water-use: If we don't waste it now, we will still have water in the future.

The challenges and problems facing water management call for collaboration between many different parties and for a multidisciplinary approach.

It is crucial to be aware of deeply-rooted gender structures and to create gender-equity in land tenure, in order to guarentee both water and food security.

A reflection on today’s principles and practices within water resources management is necessary. 

Debating future water policy should integrate its religious and cultural values, instead of framing it as a commodity, argues Pauline Tangiora from the New Zealand Earth Charter Commissioner and Indigenous Grandmother

The Broker is launching an online consultation on the role of water in the soon to be determined post-2015 development agenda. This consultation will bring together a range of inspiring people from different backgrounds – including academics, entr...

Improved water management can avoid future water related conflicts, through a de-centralized, de-politicized and transparent approach based on stakeholder involvement and water engineering technology.

The key areas to prioritize in the UN’s Post-2015 development agenda will soon be determined in a worldwide consultation process coordinated by the UN. Feeding into this process, The Broker brings together international experts to pool their knowl...

Oxfam Novib’s Tom van der Lee writes that development aid should not only support small-scale farmers, but should find links with climate change, land grabbing, biofuels policies, and price volatility.

There is a need for new values for wealth and national economic growth figures. GNP and GNI are outdated.

Is water a commodity or a public good? Who can assume the right to open or close the water tap? This blog will focus on the public to public partnerships for water utilities.

Yao Graham expresses his concern about the new scramble for Africa at the TNI Fellows Meeting 2011. Graham is the Executive Director of the Third World Network, a research and advocacy organisation based in Accra, Ghana....

This blog is about the ‘It’s Down 2 Earth’ conference on agriculture, food security and climate change held in The Hague between 31 October and 5 November 2010.

In a sequence of three blog posts Alex Calvo examines the wider geopolitical issues that are likely to be affected by the nuclear incident in Fukushima Daiichi, Japan.In previous postings, Prof Calvo discussed the Nuclear Renaissance and the Compe...

Most ecological economists probably agree that we are facing serious environmental and development problems in society and the economy. We also agree that action is needed. The focus of attention is on ecosystem services and degradation of natural...

The Earth system is changing rapidly due to human activity. The scale of human interference with planetary systems is such that our time could be recognized as a new era in planetary history: the 'anthropocene'.

Phosphorus, a key component of fertilizers, is crucial for the world’s food supplies. But as reserves of phosphate begin to run out, the impacts are likely to be immense – in terms of rising food prices, growing food insecurity and widening inequa...

Policy recommendations for reversing the ‘resource curse’ have been divided into ‘purely’ economic measures and messy politics. A reality check is needed to see if the suggested cures are realistic.