In recent decades the international community has begun to support protected area (PA) governance systems that demonstrate the combined effort to achieve biodiversity and conservation goals while promoting the sustainable use of natural resources and job creation.
South Africans assumed on 27 April 1994 that their vote for freedom would erase the ethnic enclaves known as ‘Bantustans’ or ‘homelands’ and guarantee a common citizenship with equal rights under one law.
On 26 January 2015, President Jacob Zuma provided reasons for referring the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill (MPRD-AB 2014) back to Parliament. The Bill had been shepherded through parliament shortly before the 2014 national elections, and has been on the President’s desk since then.
Africa may be rising, but its success is primarily measured by economic growth and development, while discourse on democratisation is far less prominent than at the onset of the new millennium. At the same time, many African states are forging ever-deeper ties with emerging powers that seem to place little value on democracy and human rights.
Heads of state and government (HOSG) in Africa, through the African Union (AU), have for some time expressed particular concern about two developments in current international criminal justice – the exercise of universal jurisdiction and the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This policy note aims to outline potential future directions for research on natural resource governance in Africa, with specific focus on the extraction of minerals and hydrocarbons.
The demand for effective resource governance partnerships has grown in line with pressure on Africa’s extractive industries to deliver inclusive and sustainable development.
Global energy consumption will increase rapidly in the next decade. The current core energy production sites in the world economy are unlikely to be able to supply this increasing demand.
Despite the fact that mining-led growth is one of the few opportunities low-income African nations have of catching up with other countries, mining in Africa is not seen as creating local benefits. There is little co-operation among stakeholders in the minerals sector and long-term planning is poor.
International co-operation on trans-boundary water systems has become an increasingly important norm in natural resource management, especially as climate change and population growth place growing pressure on the global water sector.
Tel: +27 (0)11 339-2021 | info@saiia.org.za
© All rights reserved South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)
Powered by THINKTEAM
