DR-Congo conflict fuelled by our technology

The news headlines may have slowed and the fighting subsided, but the Democratic Republic of Congo is still centre of one of the world’s deadliest conflicts.

Some 5.4 million people have died since 1998. The toll continues to rise by 45,000 each month, mostly because of conflict-related causes such as malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition.

Complex social, political and economic problems have either caused or exacerbate the conflict situation – and while it is difficult to see the link between DRC’s decades-old war and consumer behaviour here in New Zealand, it certainly exists.

Over the last ten years, armed conflict in DRC has become increasingly self-financing. A significant amount of this money comes from the exploitation of natural resources – such as coltan, a mineral commonly used to power mobile phones.

When refined, coltan becomes a heat-resistant powder, with unique properties for storing electrical charge. It is a vital component in the capacitors that control current flow in cell-phones and other portable electronic device circuit boards, such as lap top computers.

With 80 per cent of the world’s known coltan located in the DRC – the highly organised and systemic operation of coltan extraction and cross-boarder trafficking is a threat to the physical and economic survival of civilians, and creates additional barriers to conflict resolution.(1)

Profits made from illegally mined coltan fuels the illegal arms trade and empowers rebel armies to wage war against civilians.

While approximately 85 per cent of the world’s coltan is legitimately sourced, it is indistinguishable from DRC’s illegally sourced mineral.

Manufacturers of mobile technology have no way of knowing whether they are using a legal source or not – which means every user of the technology is complicit in the corruption, conflict and the human casualties.

The establishment and regulation of the Kimberley Process (KP) for diamond mining and distribution has shown that the precious commodity trade can be regulated to dry-up the fuel for corruption. Without certification, a diamond cannot be sold to legitimate businesses or imported to many countries, including New Zealand.

Five years after the commencement of the Kimberley Process, diamond experts estimate that conflict diamonds now represent 0.2 percent of the international trade in diamonds, compared to estimates of up to 15 percent in the 1990s.

The KP has done more than just stem the flow of conflict diamonds, it has also helped stabilise emerging democracies and supported their development. As the KP has made life harder for rebel armies and corrupt officials, it has brought large volumes of diamonds onto the legal market that would not otherwise have made it there. This has increased the revenues of poor governments, and helped them to address their countries’ development challenges. For instance, some $125 million worth of diamonds were legally exported from Sierra Leone in 2006, compared to almost none at the end of the 1990s.

Establishing a similar type of process for coltan has already begun, with many NGOs and community groups putting pressure on governments and technology producers. Consumer pressure for coltan certification must follow if campaigning is to succeed.

Next time you’re planning on buying a mobile phone, laptop or other mobile technology, consider asking the manufacturer what their business is doing to encourage a certification process for coltan.

(ref.)1- DESA Expert Group Meeting on Conflict Prevention, Peace-building and Development, 15 November 2004, Natural Resources, Governance, Development and Conflict Discussion Paper.

Refugees of climate change

"In a world that is so divided by inequalities in wealth and opportunity, it is easy to forget that we are part of one human community. As we see the early impacts of climate change registering across the world, each of us has to reflect on what it means to be part of that family ... We can, and must, work together to ensure that [it] does not throw human development into reverse gear." Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu (1)

The era of climate change migration has begun. On remote Carterets, a tiny and flat Pacific atoll, the situation is dire. Surrounded by nothing but open ocean, its six inhabited islands are extremely vulnerable to the rising sea – the highest point of the Carterets is only 1.2 meters above sea level.

In 2005, a decision was reached to evacuate the Carteret Islands and resettle its tiny population (officially 2,502 people) on larger Bougainville Island, a four-hour boat ride southwest of the atoll. Over the course of seven-to-ten years, ten families at a time are being moved under the resettlement scheme, until the whole island population is fully evacuated.

Despite 20 years of initiatives to hold back the sea, these people have now become the world’s first recognised "climate change refugees".

The causes and symptoms of climate change are well documented and rapidly gaining international prominence in macro policy dialogue. A pattern of environmental degradation and negative climatic change has been set in motion and is severely eroding the security and livelihoods of millions of people.

Evidence points to a link between climate change and natural disasters – and the majority of the most dire effects of climate change fall upon the poor. Cyclic patterns of drought and flood, as well as the subtle, seemingly less dramatic effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, coastal erosion and contamination of freshwater resources, exacerbate poverty in densely populated coastal regions across the world and displace multitudes.

Islands are becoming uninhabitable, islanders are evacuating their atolls, coastal populations are moving inland, coastal erosion is eating away properties, agricultural land is being salinated, freshwater supplies are being contaminated, climate disasters are on the increase and "climate refugees" are fleeing environmental decay (2).

The climate crisis is depriving millions of the poorest people of justice and threatens to leave a legacy of destruction for today's children and their descendants. Unless it is curbed, climate change is set to reverse progress built up over generations. This could become the greatest wholesale violation of human rights in history.

The problem is particularly concerning since, unlike the victims of conflict and natural disaster who can benefit from the mobilisation of relief, millions of gradually uprooted environmental migrants receive no support and are not recognised as official "refugees" under world conventions (3).

Action is urgently needed to protect the rights of a growing number of climate migrants. World Vision urges unprecedented global action in the areas of mitigation (to address the causes of climate change) and adaptation (to sooth its effects) if decades of development gains are not to be lost.

Read more about climate change in summaries of World Vision's Planet Prepare Report

1 - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human Development Report 2007/2008. Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world. Published 2007. New York. USA. ISBN 978-0-230-54704-9. {Pages 36-37.}

2 - IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, Pachauri, R.K and Reisinger, A. (eds.)]. Geneva. Switzerland. {Pages 13 and 53.}

3 - As Ranks of "Environmental Refugees" Swell Worldwide, Calls Grow for Better Definition, Recognition, Support. United Nations University UNU-EHS Institute for Environment and Human Security. UN Day for Disaster Reduction: Oct. 12, 2005. {Page 3.} (Accessed 10 Apr 2008 @ http://www.ehs.unu.edu/file.php?id=58)