Understanding the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts of energy transition-induced extractivism in Mozambique: The role of mixed methods

Emilinah Namaganda; Kei Otsuki; Griet Steel

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117811

Understanding the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts of energy transition-induced extractivism in Mozambique: The role of mixed methods

Emilinah Namaganda^*, Kei Otsuki, Griet Steel

^*Corresponding author for this work

International Development Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The global energy transition is very resource intense, and scholarship is rapidly increasing to show its impacts in various resource extraction frontiers in the global South. These emerging studies are clarifying the social and environmental impacts of extracting particular energy transition resources (ETRs). However, there is still limited attention on the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts of extracting multiple ETRs from the same region. This paper proposes to mix geospatial and qualitative research methods to examine the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts of ETR extraction. We apply these mixed methods to study the impacts of an expanding frontier of graphite and natural gas extraction in Mozambique. The geospatial results show that patterns in socioenvironmental changes, including a surge in built-up and bare areas and water-covered surfaces, and a shrinkage of vegetated areas – some of which are ecologically sensitive, are starting to emerge in the project areas. In combination with qualitative methods, we identified additional impacts including an increase in solid waste and air and noise pollution, and an inception of extractivism-associated conflict in certain project areas. When single commodities are analyzed, using single methods, some of these impacts may be overlooked or underestimated. In order to fully understand the sustainability implications of the energy transition process, it is instrumental to combine geospatial and qualitative research methods to monitor the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts at its upstream end.

Original language	English
Article number	117811
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Environmental Management
Volume	338
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117811
Publication status	Published - 15 Jul 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Dutch Research Council ( NWO ) through the ASPASIA project. Field work in 2020 was partly funded by the Ronald van Kempen Urban Geography Fund of Utrecht University . The funding sources were not involved in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. We thank Lúrio University which hosted the first author during fieldwork in 2021. We are also grateful to the field research assistants who helped collect data in Mozambique: Patrick Mollo, Carlos Viriato, Lucrécia Fonseca, Miguel Teodoro Sebastião, Joaquina Muroto, and Milda Come. We also thank Utrecht University students Simon Teichtmann and Liesanne Baak who conducted their theses with the InFRONT project and whose outputs contributed to the conceptualization process of this paper. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 2022 EXALT conference and at the 2022 InFRONT and Gas Gospels project workshop. We express our gratitude to the participants of these events for their useful comments and reflections. We are also extremely grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the paper considerably.

Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the ASPASIA project. Field work in 2020 was partly funded by the Ronald van Kempen Urban Geography Fund of Utrecht University. The funding sources were not involved in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. We thank Lúrio University which hosted the first author during fieldwork in 2021. We are also grateful to the field research assistants who helped collect data in Mozambique: Patrick Mollo, Carlos Viriato, Lucrécia Fonseca, Miguel Teodoro Sebastião, Joaquina Muroto, and Milda Come. We also thank Utrecht University students Simon Teichtmann and Liesanne Baak who conducted their theses with the InFRONT project and whose outputs contributed to the conceptualization process of this paper. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 2022 EXALT conference and at the 2022 InFRONT and Gas Gospels project workshop. We express our gratitude to the participants of these events for their useful comments and reflections. We are also extremely grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the paper considerably.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Energy transition
Resource frontiers
Extractivism
Socioenvironmental impacts
Mixed methods

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117811Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S0301479723005996-mainFinal published version, 8.69 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Understanding the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts of energy transition-induced extractivism in Mozambique: The role of mixed methods",

abstract = "The global energy transition is very resource intense, and scholarship is rapidly increasing to show its impacts in various resource extraction frontiers in the global South. These emerging studies are clarifying the social and environmental impacts of extracting particular energy transition resources (ETRs). However, there is still limited attention on the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts of extracting multiple ETRs from the same region. This paper proposes to mix geospatial and qualitative research methods to examine the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts of ETR extraction. We apply these mixed methods to study the impacts of an expanding frontier of graphite and natural gas extraction in Mozambique. The geospatial results show that patterns in socioenvironmental changes, including a surge in built-up and bare areas and water-covered surfaces, and a shrinkage of vegetated areas – some of which are ecologically sensitive, are starting to emerge in the project areas. In combination with qualitative methods, we identified additional impacts including an increase in solid waste and air and noise pollution, and an inception of extractivism-associated conflict in certain project areas. When single commodities are analyzed, using single methods, some of these impacts may be overlooked or underestimated. In order to fully understand the sustainability implications of the energy transition process, it is instrumental to combine geospatial and qualitative research methods to monitor the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts at its upstream end. ",

keywords = "Energy transition, Resource frontiers, Extractivism, Socioenvironmental impacts, Mixed methods",

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note = "Funding Information: This study was funded by the Dutch Research Council ( NWO ) through the ASPASIA project. Field work in 2020 was partly funded by the Ronald van Kempen Urban Geography Fund of Utrecht University . The funding sources were not involved in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. We thank L{\'u}rio University which hosted the first author during fieldwork in 2021. We are also grateful to the field research assistants who helped collect data in Mozambique: Patrick Mollo, Carlos Viriato, Lucr{\'e}cia Fonseca, Miguel Teodoro Sebasti{\~a}o, Joaquina Muroto, and Milda Come. We also thank Utrecht University students Simon Teichtmann and Liesanne Baak who conducted their theses with the InFRONT project and whose outputs contributed to the conceptualization process of this paper. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 2022 EXALT conference and at the 2022 InFRONT and Gas Gospels project workshop. We express our gratitude to the participants of these events for their useful comments and reflections. We are also extremely grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the paper considerably. Funding Information: This study was funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through the ASPASIA project. Field work in 2020 was partly funded by the Ronald van Kempen Urban Geography Fund of Utrecht University. The funding sources were not involved in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. We thank L{\'u}rio University which hosted the first author during fieldwork in 2021. We are also grateful to the field research assistants who helped collect data in Mozambique: Patrick Mollo, Carlos Viriato, Lucr{\'e}cia Fonseca, Miguel Teodoro Sebasti{\~a}o, Joaquina Muroto, and Milda Come. We also thank Utrecht University students Simon Teichtmann and Liesanne Baak who conducted their theses with the InFRONT project and whose outputs contributed to the conceptualization process of this paper. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 2022 EXALT conference and at the 2022 InFRONT and Gas Gospels project workshop. We express our gratitude to the participants of these events for their useful comments and reflections. We are also extremely grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the paper considerably. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

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Understanding the cumulative socioenvironmental impacts of energy transition-induced extractivism in Mozambique: The role of mixed methods

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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