Minerals, natural resources, government instability, and growing ecological challenges: Can we achieve SDGs 12 and 13?

Yanlan Yong, Zahoor Ahmed, Shaohui Wang, Husam Rjoub and Yuriy Bilan

Resources Policy, 2024, vol. 88, issue C

Abstract: Mineral resources (MNR) are being increasingly extracted by countries situated in the Global South. However, the extraction and processing of these resources can have severe ecological repercussions. Previous literature mainly evaluates the long-run ecological impacts of natural resources (NTR) and studies delving into the long-run ecological impacts of mineral resources in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12 & 13 are scant. Thus, this study assessed the environmental challenges associated with MNR and NTR by incorporating the measure of government stability (GNST) across ten emerging nations situated in the Global South, spanning the years from 1989 to 2020. The comprehensive load capacity factor (LCF) is employed as a proxy of ecological quality. After using the empirical methods robust to cross-sectional dependence (CSD), endogeneity, serial correlation, and heteroscedasticity, this study unfolded the following long-run outcomes. Mineral resources lessen the LCF and thus, decrease the ecological quality. Likewise, natural resources diminish the LCF figures and exert detrimental impacts on the quality of the environment. Surprisingly, government stability intensifies ecological degradation. Furthermore, the study found the load capacity curve (LCC) in the member nations showing that higher development can uplift the LCF. Finally, a policy framework based on the SDGs is proposed to ensure the sustainability of MNR and NTR.

Keywords: Mineral resources; Load capacity factor; Government stability; Natural resources; SDGs; Ecological quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:88:y:2024:i:c:s0301420723012187

DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.104507

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