My Understanding of the Environment
08 July 2013
by Lyndsy Bartolome
As a child when I was only starting to learn
about things that surround us, I basically understood that what surrounded me
was “the environment”, the physical setting – what I see, hear, taste, smell
and touch. I have little grasp or no knowledge at all about environmental
issues and impacts, or even concepts of what my role is to the environment.
This kind of assumption was predisposed as
children would normally and readily accept a fact as presented. This was
explained by Piaget (as cited in Hart & Chawla, n.d, p. 273). Piaget
questioned “Can a child distinguish the self from the external world?” This is
a problem he refers to as “realism”, a child’s tendency to treat its own
perspective as an absolute. The things that I was first taught about came to be
my reality. Questioning where things
come from was too complex for a young mind to understand, and for adults with
limited knowledge to explain.
Soon, as I started to become aware of my own
observations, I start to form my own
theories of the world, albeit my dependence to second-hand information.
Exposure to other cultures, beliefs, and formal education made me recognize
other’s points of view and their difference from my own. The events that
happening around me became part of the environment as well. Everything became
inter-connected, which includes myself. Empathy is achieved; ecological and
social responsibility is recognized.
As an adult pursuing further education and
working for a mining company, I see my role in the environment as a master and a
steward.
Being a master, I value nature because of the
benefits it provides for us humans. One good example is the extraction of
minerals resources (mining). Nature has been very generous to the Philippines
that these minerals are abundant in this part of the earth. Taking the role of
a master, how would these resources be of any use to man if they are not to be
mined and processed for other useful purposes?
The mining industry is one of the major driving
forces for economic development. According to the International Council on Mining and Metals ([ICCM] October 2012), they
have summarized seven main observations from the case studies they have
conducted on the evidence of
contributions of mining to the economy, and they are as follows:
1)
Foreign
direct investment (FDI)
2)
Total
national investment
3)
Exports
4)
Net
foreign exchange earnings
5)
Government
revenues
6)
Gross
Domestic Product (GDP)
7)
Employment
and wages
As for the Philippines, based on the ICCM’S Mining
Contribution Index (MCI) for 2010, we are ranked as 44th in the
world with 69.9 MCI. The MCI is
calculated based on aspects of mining and metals contribution to national
economies where country-by-country data exists. At present the MCI is limited
to three variables based on contributions to exports and production values,
which are used to calculate an overall MCI score for each country. The MCI
provides a reasonable first approximation of the relative importance of mining
and metals to each national economy, however, there are many more direct and
indirect potential contributions from the mining sector for each country.
But making
sure that the mineral resources are indeed translated to development is the
challenging part. It takes extensive planning, and proper execution to make
mining a sustainable business, and a responsible one at that. From initial stages of exploration, to
development, to production, and up to the post-mining phases, each stage
entails great consideration to the environment, both natural and social. And
this is where the part of being a steward comes in.
What does being an environmental steward mean? From
Wikipedia, environmental stewardship refers to the responsible use and
protection of the environment through conservation and sustainable practices.
From the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), environmental stewards are those who strive to sustain natural resources and our
environment for future generations.
Each stage of mining demands for the assessment
and identification of measures for foreseeable environmental impacts, safeguarding
the integrity of affected areas, including the protection of rights of the affected
communities, safeguarding the health and safety of workers, open communication
and involvement of the community in the planning monitoring of social
development and environmental programs, among others.
These requirements are all embodied in the
Philippine Mining Act, as it promotes sustainable and/or responsible mining.
Some of its highlights are as presented in the MGB Briefer on RA 7942 which are
as follows:
·
Mining activities must always be guided
by current Best Practices in environmental management committed to reducing the
impacts of mining while efficiently and effectively protecting the environment;
·
The wealth created as a result of mining
accruing to the government and the community should lead to other
wealth-generating opportunities for people in the communities and for other
environment-responsible endeavors;
·
Mining activities shall be undertaken
with due and equal regard for economic and environmental considerations, as
well as for health, safety, social and cultural concerns;
·
Conservation of minerals is effected not
only through technological efficiencies of mining operations but also through
recycling of mineral-based products, to effectively lengthen the usable life of
mineral commodities;
Being a master and steward of the environment
may be contradicting concepts but it somehow works, as long as we play each
role responsibly. We must learn to use our natural resources responsibly. We
should not let greed overcome our conscience. We must learn to respect other
ecosystems that exist around our business and learn that their existence is all
related to us. What we do has an effect to them, just as what their
reactions/outcomes has an effect to us. We need to be educated more on our
dependencies and relationships with each other.
