Extractive sector’s role in tackling climate change

Dar es Salaam. Statistics show that resource extraction activities contribute half of all the carbon emissions produced in the world, making climate change one of the biggest challenges on the globe.

According to the United Nations (UN), in some areas, mining has contributed to air pollution, water source pollution, soil erosion, and the scattering of toxic waste in the environment.

Due to the situation, the stakeholders in extraction activities and the environment in the country have explained how mining, oil, and gas companies can combat the effects of climate change.

Speaking about the situation in the country, HakiRasilimali Chief Executive Officer Adam Antony said there is a need for mining companies to look at the best way of carrying out their activities and minimising the effects of climate change.

“Activities involving the extraction of minerals, oil, and gas all contribute, to a certain extent, to the production of carbon and the effects of climate change,” he said.

He noted that some companies involved in the extraction industry have just started to take some measures to tackle the effects of climate change, although not at a satisfactory level.

Mr Antony mentioned such measures as including the mining of minerals that help stimulate the use of clean energy, saying it is a good move towards dealing with the threat of climate change in the country.

“For example, here in the country, we have seen investors in the mining of minerals such as graphite, nickel, and oth-ers that are used in the production of batteries and solar panels, which are all raw materials needed to get clean ener-gy,” said Mr Antony.

University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Economics Lecturer Prof Abel Kinyondo said that in order to hold mining compa-nies responsible for environmental pollution, a law should be enacted to control their activities.

He said that currently there is no law that compels or states the responsibility of those companies in the financing of measures to combat climate change.

“The current situation is a matter of will and not of compulsion, but according to the sensitivity of the issue and climate change, there is a need to have a law controlling that.

If you ask the miners right now, they will tell you that they meetthose costs through taxes, but the reality is that those funds are put in a general basket, whereby you cannot separate them,” said Mr Kinyondo.

He advised that it is important to have a mechanism for ‘carbon pricing or carbon trading,’ which means big carbon producers finance or pay for environmental protection projects.

“In that way, they will pay the right amount for protecting the environment. Basically, they should pay more because they are big polluters, and environmentalists will benefit from the great efforts they are making,” said Prof Kinyondo.

The Acting Manager of the Tanzania Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TEITI), Mr Joseph Kumburu, said many mining companies play a role in combating the effects of climate change.

“Many companies have units dealing with environmental issues, providing education, and helping to control climate change,” said Mr Kumburu.

He also expressed that the National Environment Management Council (Nemc) is doing its job well and that even TEITI has started to include information on environmental issues in its reports.

However, the Advocacy and Relations Officer of the Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team (LEAT), Mr Awadhi Rashid, explained how companies involved in extraction activities contribute to causing the effects of climate change rather than tackling them.

“You may find one area is mined for even 50 years; depending on the contract, the place where they mine, they de-stroy the soil, and even if there are trees, they fell them, all of which causes the effects of climate change,” said Mr Awadhi. He said the vehicles and machines in most mines use a lot of fuel, a situation that increases carbon emissions, which affect the environment.

“Personally, I think they destroy the environment more than they protect it,” Mr Awadh.

Recently, Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba was quoted several times as saying how climate change had been con-tributing to affecting the growth of Tanzania’s economy.

At a meeting between the Government and development partners earlier this year, Dr Nchemba said climate change had taught Tanzania a lesson on how it should organise itself in engaging in irrigation agriculture because the rainy sea-sons have become unpredictable, affecting rain-fed agriculture.

In October 2022, the Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union and Environment), Dr. Selemani Jafo, said approximately $19.2 billion (Sh47.9 trillion) would be used to implement the National Plan on tackling the effects of climate change.