| Resumen: |
The world is passing through a historic convergence of increasing demand for natural
resources from emerging economies, historic prices across various commodity groups,
a downward trend in resource supply and ecological stability, and the rise of inequality
between those who develop and profit from such resources and the communities that
host them. Together such factors have joined to create a break from cyclical factors that
traditionally shaped commodity markets in the past, a ‘new normal’. As governments and corporations scramble to secure resources, investments into natural assets have surged
5000 per cent, from $6 billion in 2000 to $400 billion by 2010, while returns to extractive
companies increased from $3 billion to $8 billion in the past decade (UNCTAD, 2011).
Prices have also hit record highs in recent years. From 2003 to 2010, oil increased from $30 to
over $100/barrel, iron ore rose from $30 to $210/dmtu, coal from $27 to $120/tonne, copper
from $1789 to $9600/tonne, gold from $364 to $1421/tonne and aluminium from $1431 to
$2470/tonne (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2011). The increased financialisation of commodities
creates various challenges, but it also presents an opportunity to maximise and better account
for the contribution of natural assets to human development. |
