Excavation economics – Debate Environmental Tales

As deteriorating nature is vital component on at least some stage of most global supply chains, saving as many species and ecosystems as humanly possible and limiting the strengths of storms, draughts and floods intensified by the climate change is vital to the survival of our current global economic system – not to mention the life itself.

Christian vision of man as image of God and prospering by taming the nature and other species is well described in the Middle-Eastern proverb: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth”. Couple of thousand years later only 4% of the biomass of Earth’s mammals is wild – the rest is either us or our livestock.

Radical change of operation is required so, that the remaining 4 % of nature does not go to zero.

Past century has seen the population explosion and fast economic growth that have caused the climate change and the sixth extinction. How did we end up here?

The path from colonialism to the battles of capitalism and socialism have led to today, where nature has been lowered from respected God or Goddess of the ancients to lower-level mean of production.

Exploitation economics

Thanks to our large brains humans have been innovative in survival and spreading out to virgin lands. Over time we have learned to separate metals from ores, oil from olives, tar from tree and to drill holes to ground to get oil, gas, water and soil samples.

Most – but not all – World systems for the past 5 000 years have operated in the “centre – periphery” – principles, where labour and material resources from surrounding rural areas have been feeding the central zone.

As the size of mankind multiplied and got motorised mobility – even to space – the distance from those centres to the periphery got longer. And as often happens, the longer the distance, the thinner the connection. And the weaker the bond is the less you care of the consequences of your actions.

Fossil economics

Crucial success factor of modern economic growth has been the fossil fuels, that have enabled manufacturing and raw material extraction in remote cheap locations of low regulation. One of the saddest examples is the tiny (21 km²) island of Nauru in the middle of Pacific Ocean, where century of international phosphate mining has turned 80% of land unusable. Now the narrow coastal strip is vulnerable to sea-level rise and tropical storms.

Green transition

Current buzz-words are green-tech, green transition and P2X – Power to X, where X = variety of alternative ways of storing energy produced with sustainable energy. The idea is to change the energy we use into renewable or atomic – depending who is talking and at what time perspective.

Regardless, all this is part of “excavation economics”. New mines have to be opened to satisfy the growing demand of raw-materials needed for the countless windmills, solar panels, electric cars and hydrogen plants.

Earth regeneration

To slow down the climate crisis and to stop the Holocene extinction, we need to enter a new regenerative epoch, that is resource saving and ecological. That means transiting away from our current economic system that rests on idea of growth. Combined with the multiplied population it has caused crossing of too many planetary boundaries – which is destroying life with increasing speed.

Consider:

Past centuries humanity has used and traded natural resources of the Earth as someone’s personal possession – and dumped industrial waste to the water systems, atmosphere and soil without much concern.

Disregarding the fact that size of humanity has quadrupled in less than a century is responsible to much of the planet wide damage taking place at the moment. Sheer area required for food production – not to mention the increased manufacture of the consumption goods – demands increased mining and deforestation.

Below four examples of excavation economics from different corners of our only planet.

Tasks:

1. NAURU. Read short articles about phosphate mining and about the effects it had in the Pacific Island of Nauru. As Nauru is such small place, the effects of excavation economics are very tangible.

DISCLAIMER: The example below may be shocking, but the facts are from international organisations. We are NOT claiming the same would happen to the whole planet. Intention is simply to state that we ALREADY HAVE created the situation described below to one whole nation.

Let us imagine Nauru to represent the excavating of Earth and the Pacific Ocean the space surrounding our planet. If the mining in Nauru would be a metaphor of what humanity is doing to the entire planet and how our way of life reflects back, in what state would we be at the moment?

Would it be:

Early 1900s, under German rule – the start of mining
1942-1945, under Japanese rule – WWII, 2^nd World War
1948, under UK, Australian and New Zealand rule – the riot of the Chinese miners for better salary and working conditions
1964, under same rule – proposal to move the citizens of Nauru to Queensland, Australia, as mining companies of the three had badly destroyed the local nature
1970s, independent – being rich (in GDP, the Gross Domestic Product per capita), but poor in ecology
1989, independent – suing Australia because of the environmental damage caused by the phosphate mining
1990s, independent – offering money laundering to anyone in need – including criminals
2000s, independent – 94,5 % of Nauruans are overweight or obese and 31 % diabetic
2001-2008, independent – earning living by imprisoning refugees. Reopened 2012-2019 and 2021->
2015, independent – 25% of the children detained in the refugee camps have tried suicide
2020, independence – CoVid19 complicates life, as Nauru depends on (canned and deep frozen) imported food. Ships get into quarantine.
2040, independence – as global warming advances, how bad will the damages of the tropical storms get? How about sea-level rise – highest point is now 65 m above sea level.

Could we learn something of all this – as people and as humanity?

2. CONGO. Fossil energy has fuelled globalisation. Moving to electric vehicles is one attempt to slow down global warming. As a result, demand of raw materials needed for batteries has multiplied.

Cobalt improves batteries of mobile phones, electric scooters and cars. Over 70 % of the cobalt used comes from mines of Congo. Read the National Geographic article about Congolese cobalt mining.

What environmental and social problems arise due to mining in Congo?
How many portables (phone, headphones, laptop, etc.) are you using today?
Which of these are necessary?
Which could be replaced by non-battery-powered versions?
What would that mean – regarding how often and where the device could be used?
If it would help saving our only planet, would it be worth the loss?
Which battery powered device would you not use today?

3. USA / UK. Fossil companies are huge. They are listed in the international stock market.

Logics of the quarterly year capitalism demands oil corporations to grow their fossil resources. As reserves of the easily accessible oil, gas and coal have been drained for over a century, new reservoirs are sought and questionable methods of excavation are being invented.

Read the BBC article on fracking.

What is fracking? Explain how it is done.
Look for the three listed problems associated with fracking.
Think and discuss, why fracking is banned in Germany and France and allowed in USA and Canada?

4. FINLAND. Forests and oceans are our planetary lungs. Fumes of the fossil fuels and deforestation are turning them ill.

Finland is a forested country and saw- and papermills helped significantly in building the Nordic welfare society and in building the “happiest nation of the World”.

Read the YLE* article about forests losing their capability to process carbon dioxide (CO₂).

* YLE = Finnish broadcasting company

Did the scientist know years beforehand of the possible issue with forest turning from carbon sinks (removing carbon(dioxide) from the atmosphere) to releasing carbon?
Did they warn the politicians?
Did the politicians act?
Can you think of reasons why? (One is given in the text)
This is just one country. Can you see resemblance to global climate politics?
Can you come up with some reasons, why politicians have failed for decades in stopping the climate crisis? What do you think of the bargaining power of large international corporations?
If you think, we should not give up trying to keep the planet liveable, how could you, your family and friends have more impact than the politicians have had?

Links – read more about excavation economics:

Phosphate mining in Nauru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate_mining_in_Banaba_and_Nauru

Consequences of mining in Nauru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_mining_in_Nauru

Economy of Nauru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Nauru

Mining cobalt in Congo: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/cobalt-mining-congo-batteries-electric-vehicles

Fracking in UK: h ttps://www.bbc.com/news/uk-14432401

Forests failing as carbon sinks: https://yle.fi/a/74-20009881

Take action:

Refugee camps on Nauru: https://www.savethechildren.org.au/our-stories/children-on-nauru

Greenpeace and fracking in USA: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/greenpeace-responds-epas-final-report-fracking/

Save the forests: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/climate-change/how-saving-forests-soil-and-peatlands-could-help-save-planet

Regenerative agriculture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_agriculture