Ecofeminism and Natural Resource Management: Justice Delayed, Justice Denied

Yang Liu,Muhammad Khalid Anser,Khalid Zaman

doi:10.3390/su13137319

Abstract

Women have a right to excel in all spheres of activity. However, their roles are mainly confined in the resource extraction industry due to masculinity bias. African women are considered exemplary cases where women have low access to finance and economic opportunities to progress in the natural resource industry. This study examines the role of women’s autonomy in mineral resource extraction by controlling ecological footprints, financial development, environmental degradation, economic growth, and changes in the general price level in the Democratic Republic of the Congo data from 1975–2019. The autoregressive distributed lag estimates show that in the short-run, women’s autonomy decreases mineral resource rents; however, this result disappears in the long-run and the positive role of women’s autonomy in increasing resource capital is confirmed. Ecological footprints are in jeopardy from saving mineral resources both in the short- and long-term. Financial development negatively impacts mineral resource rents, while women’s access to finance supports the mineral resource agenda. The positive role of women in environmental protection has led to increased mineral resource rents in the short- and long-term. Women’s social and economic autonomy increases mineral resource rents in the short-term, while it has evaporated in the long-term. The Granger causality has confirmed the unidirectional linkages running from women’s green ecological footprints, access to finance, and women participating in environmental protection to mineral resource rents in a country. The variance decomposition analysis has shown that women’s economic autonomy and access to finance will exert more significant variance shocks to mineral resource rents over the next ten years’ period. The results conclude the positive role of women’s freedom in the mineral resource sustainability agenda. Thus, there is a high need to authorize women through access to finance and economic decisions to restore natural resource capital nationwide.

Highlights

Introduction iationsExtractive industries have played a vital role in promoting economic development by providing resource inputs to the industries to produce commodity products and export them to the foreign market [1]
Note: MRR—mineral resource rents, WA—women’s autonomy, AL—arable land, Women’s Green Ecological Footprints (WGF)—women green footprints, BM—broad money supply, Women’s Access to Finance (WAF)—women access to finance, CO2—carbon emissions, Women’s Participation in Environmental Protection (WPEP)—women participation in environmental protection, WHA—
MRR—mineral resource rents, WA—women’s autonomy, AL—arable land, WGF—women green footprints, BM—broad money supply, WAF—women access to finance, CO2—carbon emissions, WPEP—women participation in environmental protection, WHA—women household affairs, GDPPC—

Summary

Introduction

Extractive industries have played a vital role in promoting economic development by providing resource inputs to the industries to produce commodity products and export them to the foreign market [1]. More than 60% of the women in abundant resource economies directly contact the resource market and depend upon it to satisfy their families’. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is no exception, and is endowed with natural resources, including mineral resources, gas, and oil reserves used to export as primary goods and balance its national account [3]. There are fewer opportunities for women in this sector to decently sustain their lives. Women are more exploited and sexually harassed during their lifetime [4]. Physical and sexual violence is common, which has sabotaged the United Nations sustainable development goal—SDG-5. Up to 50% of the girls under 16 are sexually assaulted. Around 150 million girls under the Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Methods

Results

Conclusion