THE environment lobby has been cited as having a cooling effect on investment plans for bauxite-alumina. Indeed, the trust cannot see a future in which bauxite mining should continue, but rather one in which it should be phased out.

Dr Theresa Rodriguez Moodie, CEO of Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), told the Jamaica Observer that there are more than adequate reasons for its position on costs.

She asserts, “Jamaica’s 70-year-old bauxite-alumina industry produces high carbon emissions, is a driver of deforestation, compromises food security, rural livelihoods and community cohesiveness, imposes high social and public health costs and poses an unassessed risk to underground water resources.”

The costs of the bauxite-alumina industry far outweigh its benefits, asserts JET, which has served as a watchdog for the industry. The list of negative impacts cited is a long one.

Rodriguez-Moodie pointed out to Sunday Finance that JET’s Red Dirt Study (2020) found that the bauxite-alumina industry contributed approximately US$1 billion to Jamaica’s annual gross domestic product (GDP), but it also generated social costs of about US$2.9 billion to US$13 billion each year.

She asserted, “These costs occur through premature death, hospital admissions, asthma, acute bronchitis, lost days of work, absence from school, and restrictions on outdoor activity, etc.

The CEO cited additional costs associated with the degradation of the ecosystems. She points out that research conducted for the World Bank shows that, for each hectare of forest degradation, just four types of negative effects — on water, recreation, non-wood forest products, and habitat and protection for species — generate social costs of about US$2,340 (per hectare that is damaged or destroyed).

Social costs also

Other social costs occur as a result of the industry’s emissions of CO2 which contributes to the climate crisis. In 2018 the industry emitted about two million tonnes of CO2. This translated to social costs to Jamaicans and others of about US$0.8 billion — US$6.6 billion the head of JET said.

She asserted, “In summary, using only two categories of social costs, the bauxite-alumina industry’s social costs exceed the economic benefits by at least US$2.7 billion to US$18 billion per annum.”

Based on all that we know about the costs and benefits of the industry, we think it is time to develop an urgent transition plan out of an industry that does not meet any definition of sustainability or the requirements for resilience due to the climate crisis.

Measures to protect future generations

Turning to how the industry can be better managed, the CEO first defines sustainability as “meeting our present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Dr Rodriguez-Moodie said that extractive industries such as the bauxite-alumina industry are inherently unsustainable economic activities. “A strong sustainability principle requires that current human activities do not eliminate future options, so this rules out mining as a sustainable development strategy.”

“Based on the analysis undertaken in the red dirt study, the social costs of the bauxite-alumina industry significantly outweigh the benefits. While the industry has benefited the Jamaican economy to some degree, mainly at the macro level, the benefits have not been shared with the communities who have paid the costs. This has eroded the resilience of small rural communities and farmers making them extremely vulnerable to climate change and other world events, which result in disruptions to the global supply chain.”

Industry burial

JET foresees a future in which bauxite mining does not exist in Jamaica. In the meanwhile, it proposes that until Jamaica’s economy has transitioned out of the industry the following should be implemented in short order:

a) Air quality regulations modified to include PM2.5. (fine dust which can cause respiratory issues such as asthma, emphysema, etc). In the interim, bauxite-alumina companies should be made to monitor for PM2.5 as a permit condition.

b) The government needs to be proactive in monitoring the industry. In the Draft Air Emissions Policy Framework, 2021 it states that 92 per cent of the air quality monitoring stations across Jamaica are operated by private industries. The bauxite sector accounts for 70 per cent of these industry stations.

JET states that independent monitoring at these stations by NEPA is not done. Therefore, NEPA cannot confirm the accuracy of the data received. JET also proposes that rehabilitation guidelines for mining and quarrying need to be strengthened; EIA regulations be drafted and finalised; and that mining companies be routinely required to prepare comprehensive compensation plans and grievance mechanisms as part of their permit conditions.