Sustainable Prevention of Resource Conflicts | Umweltbundesamt

Raw material conflict occurs in various forms: in the form of supply bottlenecks and crises, violent disputes, or even war; as well as due to the effects of environmental destruction, whereby the sources of people's livelihoods are lost. Raw material conflict is a reality in many instances, but in others is merely postulated. On the one hand, the nature, strategic importance and price of raw materials influence potential conflict constellations. On the other hand, much depends on the management and governance of raw material resources and production, material flows, value creation chains and sources of financing, across a variety of levels. Existing research into raw material conflict in the field of oil, gas and valuable minerals reveals the multi-layered complexity of the issue as well as the necessity and possibilities of avoiding such conflict in a sustainable manner over the long term.