31 May 2021

[...]

The Guardian has collected data from across the region to map what resources are being harvested from Pacific countries, where they end up, who these projects profit and who they harm.[...]

A global audit of Pacific resource extraction undertaken by the Guardian’s Pacific Project has revealed that:

• China dominates resource extraction in the region, taking just over half the total tonnes of the minerals, timber and fish exported.
• In some industries, Pacific communities see less than 12% of the final value of the resources being extracted, with little paid in royalties or reinvested in the countries which own the resources. Despite their collective natural resource wealth, GDP per capita remains low for many Pacific Island states.
• The extraction each year of billions of dollars worth of minerals, oil, gas and timber – US$11.8bn in 2019 - is causing environmental devastation, poisoning rivers and forests, and degrading food security.
• The scale of these extractive industries is also having significant social and health impacts on Pacific people.

[...]