Investing in Destruction
Published: June 2003
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Publication Summary
A WTO investment agreement would have significant impact on extractive industries, amounting to investment in the destruction of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries. The evidence that investment in extractive industries helps poor countries is slim. According to the United Nations, the proportion of people living on less than $1 per day in mineral and energy exporting countries grew from 61 percent in 1981 to 82 percent in 1999. Proposed new multilateral rules governing investment will undermine the abilities of developing country governments to pursue pro-poor national investment strategies and public policies regulating extractive industries. For this reason, new rules for investment must be kept off the WTO agenda.