A global expansion of extraction in mining and hydrocarbons has been taking place since 2002, with the potential to drive economic growth in developing countries. Over the same period, this intensified activity in extractives contributed to social and environmental conflicts. Given that conflict presents a fundamental barrier to sustainable development, governments in Latin America, Africa and beyond began developing approaches to how they can better navigate, manage and transform mining, oil and gas conflict, enabling opportunities for sustainable development from natural resource wealth.

A recent study by UNDP and the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI) based on a literature review, quantitative analysis of 300 cases, and an in-depth case study, identifies and discusses ways in which governments play a role in preventing or enabling conflict. The study was developed as a response to an unprecedented increase in conflict incidents associated with mining operations, which proliferated alongside an unprecedented rise in the price of metals and industry activity between 2002 and 2013. Given that conflict presents a fundamental barrier to sustainable development, the objective of the study was to improve policies and practices for the prevention of the negative consequences of conflict, including violence.

Key messages from the UNDP-CIRDI study, informed by field case studies from Peru, Bolivia, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Ghana are summarized as follows:

• Conflict does not always have negative outcomes. If properly managed it can be transformed into opportunities for sustainable development. Therefore we distinguish between destructive and constructive conflict
• Conflict is not an event. It is a process, with a history and a pathway prior to conflict outbreak.
• Conflict is the result of the interplay among multiple actors, primarily government, companies and communities. However, host governments play a critical role.
• Conflict is a process that is seemingly chaotic, but in reality, is quite systematic and follows a logical, somewhat predictable pathways. It can be understood using an analytical framework. The role of government in conflict
• While all players have a role in creating sustainable development, the role of the government is critical, given that they set the enabling environment in which mineral development occurs.
• The expected role of host governments is to achieve responsible, sustainable mineral development through the establishment and implementation of appropriate Governance Regimes.
• The ability of governments to effectively perform this role is a critical determinant in enabling either the creation or prevention of destructive conflict associated with mining operations.
• In some cases, governments appear to have contributed to the creation of conflict rather than its prevention.

Read the UNDP-CIRDI study here.