Title of paper

5. The Rössing Foundation

The Rössing Foundation was established in 1978 by Rössing Uranium Ltd. through a deed of trust to implement and facilitate corporate social responsibility activities within the communities of Namibia. The Rössing Foundation undertakes a broad range of activities across a wide spectrum of community development areas. The foundation concentrates its activities mainly within the Erongo Region and to a lesser extent in the Oshana and Omaheke Regions. This support includes local authority support to the town of Arandis with regard to education and enterprise development. All programmes driven and supported by the Rössing Foundation are implemented in collaboration with critical partners such as the Ministry of Education, the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), the Erongo Regional Council, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Arandis Town Council.³⁷ In 2012, the Rössing Foundation had to reduce the number of employees drastically due to financial difficulties. Rössing Uranium considers closing the foundation.

6. Rössing’s financial difficulties

In 2003, the mine management of Rössing announced that it is expected to close down in 2007. The mine was running at a loss because of the low uranium price, high costs and the continued strengthening of the Rand against the US dollar. The mine employed 820 workers and about 214 contractors (The Namibian, 18 Dec 2003).
Rössing stated in their document ‘Sustainability Assessment for the Life Extension of Rössing Uranium Mine’ that “over the years, some concerns have been raised regarding the exploitation of Namibia’s uranium resources by a foreign company and the potential impacts Rössing Uranium mine has on workers’ health and the natural environment”.
A study carried out in 2003 “to determine whether the positive influences of the mine outweigh the potential negative impacts, thus guiding a decision on whether to extend mining operations through to 2016 or opt for closure in 2007” resulted in the decision “to extend the life of the mine to at least 2016 or beyond (Rössing, 2005: 5).”

7. References

AKAFRIC / Arbeitskreis Afrika. 1988. Strahlende Geschäfte – Der Tanz auf dem Uranweltmarkt. Stuttgart. Schmetterling Verlag.
Duggal, NK (ed.). 1987. Namibia: Legal Framework and Development Strategy Options for the Mining Industry. Lusaka.
Global Nonviolent Action Base.1971/72; at http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/ovambo-migrant-workers-general-strike-rights-namibia-1971-72; last accessed 22 Dec 2013.
Haseldine, P. 2014. The Downing of Flight 103 over Lockerbie: It was the Uranium; at http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dorwing-of-flight-103-over-lockerbie-it-was-the-uranium/5364222; last accessed 8 Jan 2014.
Hecht, G. 2012. Being Nuclear – Africans and the Global Uranium Trade. Cambridge / London. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Renkhoff, N. 2013. Nachhaltige Entwicklung im Bergrecht Namibias. Baden-Baden. Nomos. Forthcoming soon.
Rössing Uranium Limited. 2012. Report to stakeholders.
Rössing Uranium Limited. 2005. Report to Stakeholders.
Rössing Uranium Limited. 1989. The Rössing Fact Book.
WISE Uranium Project. 2013 (updated). Issues at Rössing Uranium Mine, Namibia; at http://www.wise-uranium.org/umoproe.html; last accessed 22 Dec 2013.

Sustainable Development and Uranium Mining

By Natalie A Renkhoff

1. Introduction

Environmental and especially resource-related problems are perhaps the single most important substantive issue that bind the countries of the earth together. Exploitation of natural resources is meant to enhance economic welfare. However, development processes that do not integrate environmental costs are likely to have major spillover effects beyond this generation and beyond a single state. Thus, bringing environmental degradation and exploitation of natural resources in line with economic development will be an enduring challenge for this century.
It is a fact that developing countries are disproportionately affected by environmental problems and unlike the richer northern countries these environmental problems further exacerbate existing domestic challenges such as a high level of poverty, diseases and a rapid population growth (Gupta, 2009: 207). At the same time, many developing countries, including Namibia, are rich in mineral resources and their exploitation by international mining companies is supposed to mitigate poverty. The lower environmental and social standards there are in a developing country, the more attractive this country becomes for mining companies. Namibia’s mining sector competes with other resource rich African countries for foreign investments. But it also has to be taken into account that the life of a mine is finite while the impacts on the environment last much longer.
The concept of sustainable development tries to give answers as to how much environmental degradation can be born for the sake of economic development and poverty reduction. This involves a process of balancing that is unlikely to have the same outcome in every country.
This paper aims to explain the concept of sustainable development in the context of uranium mining in Namibia.

2. The principle of sustainable development

The most widely accepted definition of sustainable development is the one used in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development, known as the Brundtland Commission:

Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

This definition has received broad support, not at least because it is a deceptively simple formulation. It allows flexibility within defined boundaries, and can be applied to the development of many activities. Moreover, there is no single goal or path for getting there; sustainable development presents more a framework for change than a list of prescriptions to achieve this (MMSD, 2002: 21).

While being acceptable to all, this broad definition, at the same time, has the weakness in as much as it does not provide clear answers as to what sustainable development means with regard to specific activities such as mining. To begin with, it is already doubtful what it means for non-renewable resources such as uranium. How can future generations meet their needs from non-renewable resources that are being exploited today? Once the minerals are mined, they will surely not be there for future generations.
Therefore, the International Council of Mining & Metals added to the Brundtland definition with regard to minerals:

In the mining and metals sector (…) investments should be financially profitable, technically appropriate, environmentally sound and socially responsible.

This definition still involves some balancing of different aspects and does not provide clear answers to specific questions, but according to this definition, the exploitation of non-renewable resources can be regarded as sustainable development under special circumstances.

But what does this definition mean for Namibia? By adhering to this definition, is it allowed to open a uranium mine in a national park like the Namib Naukluft Park or the Etosha Park? Most of Namibia’s uranium mines are in national parks in the Erongo Region.
The question as to whether or not mining should be prohibited in national parks is indeed highly debated all over the world. It is the discussion of a ‘soft’ versus a ‘hard’ definition of sustainable development. The above mentioned definition accommodates both views!
Some people believe that certain areas of the planet should be beyond reach for mining because they contain irreplaceable critical natural or human capital. While Namibian legislation allows mining in national parks and the Namibian government has issued mineral licences for uranium in the Namib Naukluft National Park, some other countries prohibit mining in such areas.