Book Chapter
Imperatives, opportunities, and dilemmas

The extractive industries are highly controversial but remain vitally important in much of the developing world. This chapter considers their role in reducing energy poverty and discusses scenarios for the future of the global markets for oil, gas, and metals (emphasizing the increasing importance of Asia). 

It then provides a snapshot of the increasing dependence of many developing countries on the extractive sector and uses that analysis to provide a perspective on the new opportunities arising from the global net-zero transition. 

Finally, the chapter sets out six dilemmas arising from the role of the extractive industries under the sub-headings of: poverty reduction and nature; mining and environmental risk; demand and supply imbalances; fragile states and supply-chains; strategic dependence; and technological backwardness. Overall, the chapter seeks to sketch the context, both national and global, in which policy-makers must make often hard choices.