The seventh Millennium Development Goal (MDG) essentially considers environmental sustainability as a national problem. In Africa, this focus is too narrow. The actions of rich countries, particularly their governments, large businesses and international corporations, have major impacts on African natural resources.

Many African countries have globally significant quantities of natural resources. For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo holds sixty percent of the world’s cobalt and eighty percent of the world’s tantalum, minerals central to the production of cell phones and computers.

Research from the University of Sussex, UK, reflects on MDG 7, which aims to ‘integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse loss of environmental resources’. This MDG emphasises the need for national action to improve the management of natural resources. National initiatives can be important, but problems with the use and protection of African natural resources are a global issue.

The research shows that:

• Policies for sustainability must look at both renewable resources (such as trees) and non-renewable natural resources (such as oil).
• The global importance of Africa's oil reserves will increase. Overseas interest and investment may increase problems of sustainable oil use.
• Multinational corporations and security firms with links to the highest levels of the USA government are key players in the struggle for control of these resources.

The research analyses the political arguments about several high-value resources. For example, countries with large reserves of oil, diamonds and minerals often experience conflict, corruption and bad governance. Corrupt elite groups fight to control the wealth that these resources generate, and fail to distribute this wealth fairly. Global development policy-makers usually ignore the role played by developed country governments and businesses, who are often key investors and financiers.

Similarly, sustainable development planners overlook the impact of resource-use in developed countries on climate change and environmental change in Africa. Changing weather patterns linked to global warming may cause droughts in the Sahel. African land users who clear natural vegetation are often blamed for this, but the real cause may lie with the actions and emissions of developed countries. Analysis of data over several centuries suggests African forests are very sensitive to climate change. Global warming could therefore have particularly disastrous effects on African forest zones. Tree cover targets linked to MDG 7 will be hard to reach.

At present, MDG 7 focuses on creating national natural resource management institutions and meeting target indicators, such as percentages of forest coverage. This misses the more important questions of power and politics in relation to African resources. Policies need to address these issues. There are several ways to start this process:

• Encourage the UK government to investigate resource transfer agreements between African countries and developed nations.
• Consider introducing an MDG focusing on combating corruption.
• Support the ‘Convention on Combating Bribery’, agreed by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
• Support the 'Publish What You Pay' initiative, which requires businesses to make their financial activities open for analysis as a condition for stock-market listing.
• Take action to change patterns of resource use in developed countries linked to climate change, such as a reduction in fossil fuel use.

Source(s):
‘Achieving Sustainability in Africa’ by J. Fairhead in ‘Targeting Development: Critical Perspectives on the Millennium Development Goals’, Routledge, by R. Black and H. White (eds), 2004

id21 Research Highlight: 21 July 2005

Further Information:
James Fairhead
Department of Anthropology
University of Sussex
Brighton
BN1 9SJ
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1273 877194
Fax: +44 (0) 1273 673563
Contact the contributor: J.R.Fairhead@sussex.ac.uk

Department of Anthropology, University of Sussex, UK

Other related links:
'Environmental impact assessments: encouraging collaboration between companies, communities and government'

'Time for transparency: coming clean on oil, mining and gas revenues'

'Reducing the adverse impacts of oil industries in Nigeria'

'Making business work for development'

UN Millennium Development Goals