Over extraction of materials main culprit in climate change

Global Resources Outlook 2019 report released on Tuesday at the UNEP Headquarters Nairobi, during the UN Environment Assembly revealed that rapid growth in the extraction of minerals is the chief culprit in climate change and biodiversity loss.

A challenge that is set to worsen unless the world urgently undertakes a systemic reform of resource use.

This coming even as African Governments are being blamed for not coming up with legal frameworks and policies that can be adopted by the mining companies to protect the environment and the local communities.

Frank Mugyenyi senior industry advisor at the African Union Commission says mining nations must invest in extractives experts and initiate homegrown solutions towards sustainable mining environment.

Mugyenyi while speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations Environment Assembly 4^th session said: “The continent is losing close to 100 billion US Dollars annually in mining through foreign companies exploitation and corruption”.

This even as the global report indicates that  “the extraction and processing of materials, fuels, and food make up about half of total global greenhouse gas emissions and more than 90 percent of biodiversity loss and water stress”. By 2010, land-use changes had caused a loss of global species of approximately 11 percent. 

The report shows the global extraction of materials grew from 27 billion tonnes to 92 billion tonnes by 2017 which is impacting on the environment negatively. This will double again by 2060 on current trends.

However, experts now argue that the globe must reduce over-reliance on extractives by adopting extended product life cycles, intelligent product design, and standardization and reuse recycling and remanufacturing.

“The Global Resources Outlook shows that we are ploughing through this planet’s finite resources as if there is no tomorrow, causing climate change and biodiversity loss along the way,” said Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director of UN Environment. “Frankly, there will be no tomorrow for many people unless we stop.”

Kenya and other mining nations were urged to domesticate regulations by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative-EITI, the global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources.