Resource justice

Factors leading to resource injustice

The term resource justice as a subcategory of distributive justice was first developed following the repeated observation that natural resources that, supposedly, are a blessing for local populations, turn out to be a curse. This can manifest itself in a number of ways – and for a number of reasons, some of which occur in isolation but more often arise together. Some examples are:

• Mining or oil drilling result in severe damage to the environment, for example through oil spills, environmental degradation, or contamination.
• The extraction of resources leads to extreme forms of exploitation of labour and / or creates very hazardous working conditions.
• Resources are being controlled by a small elite that makes or embezzles all the profits. This often goes along with corruption.
• People are forced off their land to make place for resource extraction or for large monocultural plantations.
• Resources in the developing world are being extracted by companies from industrialised countries, with most of the profits going to the latter.
• Companies extract genetic material, which is then commercially farmed or bred – and often patented.