Our Environment - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 316

Throughout history religious organizations have also exercised political power. Religion
can support or oppose industrial development. In the Philippines as one example, the
Catholic Church remains an influential political stakeholder in new mine ventures, quite
often opposing mining.

Religion can support or oppose
industrial development. In the
Philippines as one example, the
Catholic Church remains an
infl uential political stakeholder in
new mine ventures, quite often
opposing mining.

Community Health

Not least because of IFC Performance Standard (PS) 4, community health has now emerged
as an important consideration in environmental assessment. Health concerns exist at the indi-
vidual, family, and community level. As is true for the individual, community health is influ-
enced by a complex web of factors ranging from nutrition, education level, sexual behaviour
and attitudes, and societal factors, to biological risk and genetic predisposition. Apart from
physical health it also encompasses mental and sexual health, including the problems of HIV
and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD), unintended pregnancy and abortion. Physical,
sexual, and mental community health issues are always closely interrelated.
IFC PS 4 is primarily concerned about protecting the health of host communities from
potential harm associated with mine development. There is however also the case in which
community health may impact on mine operations. For example, average life expectancy
relates directly to community health. In some countries average life expectancy can be well
below 40 years (such as in many African countries due to problems associated with HIV).
Accordingly in such circumstances, ensuring a stable and healthy work force becomes a
formidable challenge. Community development programmes to improve community
health serve as a prime example of environmental management that enhances rather than
merely protecting existing environmental resources.

Community development
programmes to improve
community health serve as a
prime example of environmental
management that enhances
rather than merely protecting
existing environmental resources.

7.6 THE ECONOMIC SPHERE - PRODUCTION,
DISTRIBUTION, AND CONSUMPTION OF GOODS
AND SERVICES

Mining converts rock into wealth; its relation to economics is intuitive. Economy is about
how wealth is created, distributed, and consumed. It concerns the ways in which a group,
society, or country produces, distributes, and consumes the tangible, material commodities of
life. It is also about how the proceeds or income from these activities are distributed between
those that contribute toward them: businesses, workers, government, and the whole of soci-
ety. Every person affects the economy in some way and we are all affected by it.
Hunting and gathering societies have a subsistence economy. Composed of groups of
25 to 40 people, they live off the land, produce little or no surplus, and have little, if any,
social inequality. Of all societies, the hunting and gathering society is the most egalitarian.
As societies become more complex, they consistently produce greater surpluses. With the
increase in surplus, trade also increases. This, in turn, creates social inequality as some peo-
ple begin to accumulate more than others. As societies continue to become more complex,
their division of labour, surpluses, trade, and social inequality all continue to increase.
To understand how a new mining venture impacts the local economy, it is necessary to
understand how the local economy functions, specifically: (1) What is currently produced
and how? (2) Why does a particular human group produce particular goods and services?
(3) How are the natural resources used? (4) How do communities in the area earn and
spend their money? (5) How are local people employed, and what technology do they use

To understand how a new
mining venture impacts the
local economy, it is necessary
to understand how the local
economy functions.