The event marks the launch the 2012 report Opening Pandora's Box, which reveals how a new wave of global landgrabbing by the extractive industries is devastating ecosystems, stripping communities of their options for food and water security, and driving climate change. The panelists will explore the dangerous convergence of trends leading to unprecedented rates of growth and scale in mining across the planet. There has been a relentless increase in demand for products since 2002 as a result of population increase, higher standards of living in so-called "new economies", and a wasteful economic model built around a throwaway 'upgrade' culture in new technologies. The 2008 economic collapse and a rush to invest in tangibles such as metals and minerals, has pushed up prices, further incentivising exploitation into new territories and deposits. Meanwhile, more sophisticated extractive technologies - which use huge amounts of energy, water and toxic chemicals - have led to fracking, tar sands, deep offshore drilling and mountain top removal.

Report Launch: Opening Pandora's Box

A New Wave of Land Grabbing for Mining and its Devastating Global Impacts

With Henk Hobbelink, Richard Solly, Philippe Sibaud & Liz Hosken

The panelists will explore the dangerous convergence of trends leading to unprecedented rates of growth and scale in mining across the planet. There has been a relentless increase in demand for products since 2002 as a result of population increase, higher standards of living in so-called "new economies", and a wasteful economic model built around a throwaway 'upgrade' culture in new technologies. The 2008 economic collapse and a rush to invest in tangibles such as metals and minerals, has pushed up prices, further incentivising exploitation into new territories and deposits. Meanwhile, more sophisticated extractive technologies - which use huge amounts of energy, water and toxic chemicals - have led to fracking, tar sands, deep offshore drilling and mountain top removal.

As pristine ecosystems, new depths of land and sea, protected areas such as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and even the UK Home Counties, become targets for the extractive industry, we are no longer dealing with isolated pockets of destruction and pollution. Irreparable damage is being inflicted on both land and people at an unprecedented scale and rate; warnings of Climate Change and Peak Oil are going unheeded. This trend is now a major driver of land grabbing globally and will exacerbate the climate crisis if it continues unabated. It poses a growing threat to the world's farmers and food production, access to water, and the livelihoods of rural communities who depend upon the land. The Pandora's Box Report will expose the devastating trajectory which this assault on Earth is now hurrying us towards.

About the Speakers:

Henk Hobbelink, Coordinator, GRAIN International. Winner of the 2011 Right Livelihood Award for their work exposing global land grabbing

Richard Solly, Coordinator, the London Mining Network. The LMN exposes the role of London based companies in the promotion of unacceptable mining projects.

Philippe Sibaud, author of the report. Philippe has been involved in the oil industry for 18 years, first as an operator then as a trader of crude oil on the international markets. He has left the industry in 2007 to concentrate on environmental and social projects.

Chaired by Liz Hosken, Director, The Gaia Foundation. Gaia and allies are releasing the report Opening Pandora's Box.

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