A local to global perspective on resource governance and conflict

Abstract

This article serves as an introduction to the special issue 'A Local to Global Perspective on Resource Governance and Conflict'. It advances the debate on natural resource governance and conflict by bringing together three different strands of literature with the aim of developing a local to global research perspective and framework for analysis. First, this article reviews and identifies research gaps in the literatures on (1) the resource curse, (2) environmental security and (3) the large-scale acquisition of land and natural resources. Second, it addresses the previously identified research gaps by developing a local to global research perspective and a corresponding analytical framework. The final section of this contribution summarises the key findings of the articles presented in the special issue and outlines their policy implications.

The Nexus of Climate Change, Land Use, and Conflicts

“…The concept further implies to be sensitive to existing conflict dynamics and to evaluate how the proposed project affects these. This goes beyond the do-no-harm principle in safeguarding against, for example, violation of human rights and land rights, but it means to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the potential impacts of the proposed project (for conflict sensitivity and assessments, see for instance [15,[107][108][109]). Failure to apply a conflict-sensitive approach increases the risk that climate change mitigation and adaptation measures aggravate or create local conflicts.…”

“…While all conflicts discussed in this paper are connected to global/ international and national levels, the focus of the conflict analysis is placed on the local level, where climate impacts are felt and projects are implemented (for the issue of scale see also Fig. 1 and [15]). Figure 1 shows the connections between climate change, including mitigation and adaptation measures and their impacts on land, human security, and response options.…”

Natural Resource Conflicts: Definition and Three Frameworks to Aid Analysis

“…The specific characteristics of natural resources play an important role in in the onset, aggravation, and sustaining of violent conflicts. A typical categorization of natural resources in the context of (non)-violent conflicts is: renewable resources, nonrenewable resources, land, and water resources (UN DPA and UNEP 2015;Bayramov 2018;Schilling et al 2018). Nonrenewable resources, sometimes also referred to as extractive resources, include among others hydrocarbons (oil and gas), minerals, gemstones, and timber from old-grown forests.…”

“…Other resource characteristics that have an important impact on conflict dynamics include energy-provision (fuel vs. non-fuel), spatial distribution (point vs. diffuse), distance to main governmental control (e.g., the capital), market-value, lootability (the combination of the market value and the easiness to extract and transport a resource), inside or outside the conflict zone (Bayramov 2018; Schilling et al 2018). Further important specifics for natural resource conflicts are the characteristics of the extraction process (e.g., the scale of the extraction, the importance of the extraction for local livelihoods, etc.)…”

“…and the actors involved in the extraction (e.g., who owns the resources, who has access to them, and who uses them?) (Schilling et al 2018).…”