The Government of Timor-Leste invited the Earth Institute and CCSI to advise on the sustainable management and use of oil resources, in order to achieve higher living standards and sustainable development. One component of the project included the preparation of a sector study that assesses whether the Government can rely on agriculture, tourism and the petrochemical sectors to achieve its long term GDP growth and employment targets.
The Government of Timor-Leste invited the Earth Institute and CCSI to advise on the sustainable management and use of oil resources, in order to achieve higher living standards and sustainable development. One component of the project included the preparation of a sector study that assesses whether the Government can rely on agriculture, tourism and the petrochemical sectors to achieve its long term GDP growth and employment targets.
Strategic development planning has long been used by private and public sectors to guide actions that will lead to a determined goal in the medium- to long-term. The SDG framework has helped to create a common language of what development means, what the global objectives are by 2030, and how progress can be measured. With the world entering an era in which data is generated and used at an unprecedented scale, data and ICT systems should be used to better inform policy decision making and help evaluate progress to hold stakeholders accountable to their promises and performance. This report outlines how two mining projects in Chile are using planning and monitoring tools to advance development objectives beyond the mining-impacted areas. Several additional examples are showcased in the annex on how governments, companies, and civil society are using improved data accessibility and technological advances to help achieve and monitor their objectives.
At the request of the Colombian Government and with the support of GIZ, CCSI prepared a policy brief focused on linkages from the mining sector in Colombia. The brief gives an overview of existing regulatory requirements, government policies and company programs to foster economic and infrastructure linkages. Based on the findings, the brief provides suggestions for next steps if the government is to develop a more comprehensive linkage creation program.
Access to affordable and reliable energy is key for the mining sector and with rising demand for minerals and falling ore grades, energy demand is estimated to increase by 36% by 2035. Today, energy produced and procured by mining companies is mostly fossil fuel based. This will have to change if the sector is to contribute to the decarbonization of the world economy, needed for countries to meet the target adopted at the Paris Agreement of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5-2 degrees Celsius. At the same time, the costs of solar, wind and battery storage systems have been falling at an unprecedented scale, which has encouraged an increasing number of mining companies to test these technologies at their mine sites. The Renewable Power of the Mine report, launched at the Energy and Mines World Congress in Toronto and prepared with the support from the German Cooperation, is the most comprehensive study to date on how the sector has been integrating renewables in their mining operations, the roadblocks that still exist, and the future trends that are likely to further drive the roll-out of renewables to supply electricity to mine sites. 38 case studies are included to highlight practical examples and lessons learned. Recommendations to address the outstanding roadblocks are included for governments, mining companies, independent power producers and donors.
Access to affordable and reliable energy is key for the mining sector and with rising demand for minerals and falling ore grades, energy demand is estimated to increase by 36% by 2035. Today, energy produced and procured by mining companies is mostly fossil fuel based. This will have to change if the sector is to contribute to the decarbonization of the world economy, needed for countries to meet the target adopted at the Paris Agreement of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5-2 degrees Celsius. At the same time, the costs of solar, wind and battery storage systems have been falling at an unprecedented scale, which has encouraged an increasing number of mining companies to test these technologies at their mine sites. The Renewable Power of the Mine report is the most comprehensive study to date on how the sector has been integrating renewables in their mining operations, the roadblocks that still exist, and the future trends that are likely to further drive the roll-out of renewables to supply electricity to mine sites. 38 case studies are included to highlight practical examples and lessons learned. Recommendations to address the outstanding roadblocks are included for governments, mining companies, independent power producers and donors.
While internationally Paraguay is known for being the largest hydropower exporter in the world, the domestic economy suffers from regular outages and high system losses. The country is largely dependent on agricultural production, which has led to volatile economic performances in the past resulting from climatic circumstances and commodity price fluctuations. To address these two key policy challenges, the Government of Paraguay has approached The Earth Institute to: 1) explore the potential of a climate risk management system and sustainable agriculture activities to mitigate environmental vulnerability and 2) develop a high-level strategic plan to use Paraguay's vast hydropower resources for sustainable economic development and the diversification of its economy. Together with the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development, the CCSI has drafted this report, which: outlines the current challenges faced by the electricity sector and recommends how these could be addressed provides suggestions for how Paraguay could use its excess electricity to diversify its economy and reduce its fossil fuel dependency, and analyzes past revenue streams from electricity exports, suggests ways to maximising future export revenues and provides management system tools that could be considered to allocate these revenues efficiently in the future.
Strategic development planning has long been used by private and public sectors to guide actions that will lead to a determined goal in the medium- to long-term. The SDG framework has helped to create a common language of what development means, what the global objectives are by 2030, and how progress can be measured. With the world entering an era in which data is generated and used at an unprecedented scale, data and ICT systems should be used to better inform policy decision making and help evaluate progress to hold stakeholders accountable to their promises and performances. This report outlines how two mining projects in Chile are using planning and monitoring tools to advance development objectives beyond the mining-impacted areas. Several additional examples are showcased in the annex on how governments, companies, and civil society are using improved data accessibility and technological advances to help achieve and monitor their objectives.
Despite the presence of favourable factors for a successful downstream industry—namely, large reserves of crude oil (the 10th largest in the world), domestic demand for refined petroleum that exceeds current production and historical government efforts to encourage a domestic industry—Nigeria has rarely been able to meet its domestic demand and become a net exporter. Less than 1 per cent of national GDP comes from the downstream oil sector. Political interference in the management of the refineries has created obstacles for the sector and paved the way for persistent under-capacity utilization. Voices for full privatization of the downstream sector have risen on the grounds that "ordinary citizens are not the main beneficiaries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)'s unreliable refineries." Nigeria's downstream policy to date has resulted more in draining government coffers than in promoting value addition and local benefits.
Indonesia is the largest exporter of nickel ore and tin in the world and ranks among the biggest for copper and gold production. To add value to these minerals, Indonesia imposed an export ban which has recently been relaxed due to private sector pushback and falling revenues. While the short-term costs of the ban are apparent, the long-term impacts remain unclear. The Indonesia case study highlights the need to target downstream policies by sector and the shortcomings of blanket regulations. For nickel and copper, where Indonesia boasts world-class reserves, companies have largely remained and are more likely to build processing facilities. Indonesia's weaker position in bauxite has meant that a lot of operations have shut down and investors have left due to the export ban.
The Government of Botswana managed to successfully negotiate a sophisticated downstream beneficiation agreement with its main partner, De Beers. The most important success factor was its exceptional bargaining power at the time of negotiation, which arose from a combination of three factors: 1) the loss in market power of De Beers, 2) the high reliance of De Beers on Botswana for its revenues and rough diamond supply, and 3) the need to negotiate the renewal of the licence.
Singapore's development since the 1960s has relied heavily on an export-led economic strategy supported by dedicated institutions providing guidance, fiscal incentives and a thriving financial and logistics sector. With little reserves of crude oil, the country has leveraged its unique geographical position as the gateway to Asian markets with world-class port infrastructure. It has attracted a number of large-scale oil refineries and petrochemical industries clustered in an export processing zone, making it the petroleum trading hub of the region. Building on Royal Dutch Shell's initiative to set up a refinery to exploit the Asian market and taking advantage of its port facilities and strategic location in the Asia-Pacific region, the government implemented an export-driven industrial policy centred around refined oil products. The success over the years has been sustained thanks to the strong fuel consumption trends in rapidly growing Asian economies. Recognizing a shift in the region's product demand trends, the government has moved further downstream by developing the petrochemicals sector.
