Institutional challenges for mining and sustainability in Peru
Open accessAbstract
Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesser developed economies, this growth offers the potential to generate new resources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainability in the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads to debate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergies between mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-political conditions under which such institutions can emerge. Building from a multiyear, three-country program of research projects, Peru, a global center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzing the effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditions under which arrangements favoring local sustainability might emerge. This program is guided by three emergent hypotheses in human-environmental sciences regarding the relationships among institutions, knowledge, learning, and sustainability. The research combines in-depth and comparative case study analysis, and uses mapping and spatial analysis, surveys, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and our own direct participation in public debates on the regulation of mining for development. The findings demonstrate the pressures that mining expansion has placed on water resources, livelihood assets, and social relationships. These pressures are a result of institutional conditions that separate the governance of mineral expansion, water resources, and local development, and of relationships of power that prioritize large scale investment over livelihood and environment. A further problem is the poor communication between mining sector knowledge systems and those of local populations. These results are consistent with themes recently elaborated in sustainability science.
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Industrialized nations (e.g., Canada) consume up to ~2% of their total energy production on rock comminution (crushing and grinding) processes.
“Industrialized nations (e.g., Canada) consume up to ~2% of their total energy production on rock comminution (crushing and grinding) processes 36 .”
From Potential for large-scale CO2 removal via enhanced rock weathering with croplands (2020) · cites this paper as [36]
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Potential for large-scale CO2 removal via enhanced rock weathering with croplands
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- Authors
- Bebbington, A. J., & Bury, J. T.
- Affiliations
- University of Manchester (GB)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2009-10-13
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 41
- Pages
- 17296-17301
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC2752402
- OpenAlex
- W2145304145
- Cited by
- 319
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 24.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
- Clark Digital Commons (Clark University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0002347)
- International Development Research Centre
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/D003040/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Mining and Resource Management
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Extractivism and Socioeconomic Issues
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › General Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Natural Resources and Economic Development
- Keywords
- mining, extractive industries, institutional arrangements, sustainability, livelihoods, water resources, mining governance, local development, power relations, knowledge systems, social learning, Peru, sustainability science, mining regulation
- MeSH terms
- Conflict, Psychological, Geography, Humans, Institutional Practice, Mining, Peru, Politics, Socioeconomic Factors, Urban Population, Water Supply, Organizational Policy, Rivers
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