Perspectives on resource politics in a climate constrained world: how ‘resource curse’ activists view climate change

摘要

This examination of the views of activists combating the oil ‘resource curse’ in Africa inquires whether their efforts to improve resource governance are challenged by the imperatives of climate protection. After outlining the ‘resource curse’, namely the ‘rentier effect’ whereby resource rich governments dampen democratic pressures, it outlines why current development models are questioned by the need to decarbonize economies to combat climate change and related environmental threats. Activists say lack of political will and appropriate institutional frameworks are the main obstacles to better oil governance. Most see connections between improved revenue transparency and greater accountability of state and corporate actors but are less clear on links to democratization. The relevance of improving climate protection is not grasped uniformly: some think greater prioritization of climate protection could weaken their countries' development progress; others see it as integral to ‘sustainable development’. This last point provides a potential basis for greater interaction between ‘resource curse’ activists and activists working for improved climate protection, possibly benefiting the objectives of both sets of actors.View full textDownload full textKeywords‘resource curse’, revenue transparency, climate protection, resource advocacy, resource governance, climate change advocacyRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2012.709693