Natural Resource Extraction & Justice: Fueling Conflict
GSN Study e-Broad @ CRS
September 17th - 28th 2012
Optional Discussion Questions -- CRS Framing Documents and Primary Resources
The following are suggested discussion questions, formulated by the GSN faculty planning team, on the main documents for GSN Session I. Of course, the use of the questions is optional. If you wish, however, simply assign the corresponding questions along with the readings you select from the GSN session 1 homepage. The questions are meant to focus students’ reading and enhance the quality and diversity of comments in the online forum. As always, you should feel free to use these materials in the way that best suits your course.
CRS Framing Documents
Extractives and Equity, Introductory Essay, pp. 1-25
1. Consider the challenges posed by extractive industries (p. 4-9)? For example, who gets the bulk of revenue from Nigerian oil extraction? Who bears the impact of pollution?
2. Do you agree that there is such a thing as a “resource curse"? If so, is good governance enough to break it? And what would count as good governance? (Need it be democratic?)
3. Why might the risk of civil war go up with the presence of extraction (p. 8)?
4. Responding to these challenges posed by the extractive industries requires engaging stakeholders (p. 9). Define the term stakeholder (in your own words), and identify the possible stakeholders in the instance of extraction by, for example, an American oil company in Nigeria. Don’t forget the shareholders!
5. What is corporate social responsibility, or CSR (p. 10)? Why should companies be interested in it?
6. What, concretely, would it mean for a company engaged in extractives to adhere to the principle of "do no harm" (p.11)? Does the principle demand too much? Does it demand too little?
7. Consider the value of international advocacy and partnerships -- people around the world campaigning for better practices in areas where the impact from extractives is devastating. Describe either the international “Publish what you pay campaign” or the “Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative” (p. 14). What is the merit of the campaign you chose to describe? What might make it hard to implement or monitor? Do you see any problems with the campaign? Do you support it, or do you have qualms with it?
8. Lastly, what is the purpose of section 1502 of the American Dodd-Frank Act (p. 16)? Bonus points for going online and identifying the status of implementation of this legislation.
Session I -- Nigeria: Increasing Equity in Oil Communities: A Case Study of the Umuechem Community 2003-2010, by Joseph Shopade and Christopher O’Connor, pp. 81-109
Context
1. To what degree does Nigeria’s economy rely on exporting crude oil and what general impact has oil revenue had on poverty rates in the country (p. 86)?
2. Now consider the oil producing region, the Niger Delta. Find the region on the map (p. 86). What percentage of Nigeria’s population lives in the Niger Delta (p. 87)? What are the economic and environmental effects of the oil industry on the people there (p. 87)? (Here, see also the National Geographic Photo Gallery on the Niger River Delta.)
3. What are some of the factors contributing to violent conflict in the region ( p.88-90)?
The work of the Centre for Social and Corporate Responsibility (CSCR)
4. This case is a good example of how CRS works through local partners. Read through the project description and identify ways CRS offered funding and technical support to the work of the Centre for Social and Corporate Responsibility (or CSCR )(pp. 83-85 and 101-102). Who is the CSCR? How would you characterize its relationship to CRS? (Don't get confused here by the acronyms!)
Major Outcome: Developing Local Governance
5. The CSCR sought to foster a functioning local government. Describe features of the development of the Community Development Council (or CDC) (pp. 92-95). Give some examples of the way the CSCR helped develop the CDC. Would you call the CSCR's work here successful (pp. 96-104)?
6. What tools did CSCR use for international advocacy (p. 95)? What tactics do you think were most successful, and why?
Corporate Social Responsibility
7. Give some examples of the ways the SPDC became more responsive to the needs of the local population as a result of the CSCR initiatives. What challenges remained between the people of Umuechem and the Shell Petroleum Develoment Corporation (pp 97-99)?
8. The text mentions the “asymmetric power dynamic” between the CDC and the SPDC (p.99). What does this refer to?
9. What is “shareholder leverage” and what is the key to using it, according to the document (pp. 100-102)?
Role of National Government and Multilateral Pressure
10. This case took place during a period in Nigeria characterized by the opening of “democratic space” (p. 101). How did the people of Umuechem (and the CSCR) engage regional and national government (p. 99 and 100-103)?
11. What are some challenges remaining for the Nigerian government in providing stability in the Umuechem region? Do these challenges obligate the SPDC to provide more for the people of Umuechem, in your view?
12. Note the role of the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiatives (EITI). What is the EITI (see introductory essay), and what was its impact in the Umuechem region (p. 102)?
What Can We Do?
13. Imagine that you just graduated from your college and got a job helping to run an organization that works for regulation and awareness of the environmental and economic impact of Marcellus Shale Gas drilling in Northeastern Pennsylvania. There’s a gas company with a mixed environmental record that wants to build a compressor station within one mile of a public elementary school. You need to inform the community of the impacts of this project and mobilize a response to the local government leaders. Educate yourself quickly on debates around US-based Natural Gas drilling using Google. What techniques for your new job would you draw from the case of the CSCR’s work in developing a community development council in Nigeria? What should you be careful not to do when organizing the community?
14. Think about your typical day as a college student. Identify examples of your use of oil, gas, and minerals. Does your reflection on the lives of the people of Umuechem make you think differently about consumption?
