How many times have I heard it said, “It’s only money?”
In truth, life doesn’t come cheaply, from the moment of conception, right through to our very last breathe, the smell and touch of money is what keeps us alive. We even allow it to decide who shall and shall not eat.
Every ten to fifteen seconds a child under the age of five dies from hunger-related causes globally. That’s nearly 50% of all childhood deaths, while we shamelessly steal millions of hectares of fertile land cultivating economic crops; crops that don’t feed us, whose underlying purpose is feeding the world’s ravenous economy, and coffee is just one of many.
It’s the world’s second most traded commodity according to www.statists.com with more than 11 million hectares of land taken up growing a crop we drink simply for pleasure.
Usually with coffee comes sugar which wastes 26 million hectares of highly prized farmland on sugar cane, a crop that’s responsible for our soaring obesity rates, but combined they help sustain a healthy economy.
Anything is justifiable when it comes to money as it pushes the meaning of the word ‘diplomacy’ to its limits. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative has been monitoring countries’ human rights performances since 2017, and China then ranked the worst, a nation with a long-held tradition of abuse.
Yet with the world’s encouragement, China has been welcomed into the fold of capitalism, producing more than $4.16 trillion worth of goods in 2024 just for us, while our fellow human is persecuted, tortured, even murdered. But today money doesn’t just talk, it screams and it screams louder.
With money comes power, and those notorious pillars of the economy have the planet tightly clenched in their hands and they’ll never let go.
Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS) can be found in most Free Trade Agreements, giving corporations the privilege to challenge any government policy that might threaten future investments.
A third of all cases are from energy and mining corporations battling for metals and minerals all vital for the world’s transition to renewables, obstructing climate action, making it redundant.
In 2019, Pakistan was ordered by World Bank arbitrators to pay Australian-owned Tethyan Copper Company a hefty compensation payment of $5. 9 billion for loss of future profits, interest and legal costs included. This amount is equal to 40% of the country’s foreign cash reserves, yet Tethyan had only invested $150 million.
In 2022, Italy was ordered to pay a UK-based oil company Rockhopper, roughly six times the amount they’d invested, after the government banned all new offshore drilling within 12 nautical miles of the coast.
Mozambique has substantial offshore reserves that come with a risk of $29 billion in ISDS claims, nearly double the nation’s annual revenue, leaving them at the mercy of corporations, and Honduras faces multiple ISDS cases, with one claim alone pushing for roughly $20 billion, more than five times the country’s public expenditure for 2024.
Now the spotlight is shining down on Narsaq in Greenland, where one of the largest undeveloped deposits of rare earth minerals lies beneath uranium deposits.
Greenland banned uranium mining and they’re fighting back, but if they lose, they will have to cough up $11 billion in compensation or lift the ban.
According to the UN Trade and Development, 132 nations are facing ISDS cases and the majority target poorer or middle class nations.
To achieve our clean energy goals, the demand for all these metals and minerals will rise by 300% to 700% by 2040, according to projections from the International Energy Agency.
A report from the WWF in 2025 found 2,419 mines are already active and classified as clean energy mines, however if we’re to meet our target, another 293 to 400 new mines are proposed.
Now the world is scraping the bottom of the barrel as the grade of ores decline, resulting in larger scale operations to obtain the same amount of metals.
So when there’s nothing left, what next? Revert back to the horse and cart? The definition of renewable energy is power generated from a natural, self-replenishing source, that doesn’t deplete over time, yet the environmental destruction to harness them, makes as much sense as a war for peace.
The almighty dollar, the world’s coat of arms, where survival of the fittest is determined by who’s the wealthiest and profit comes before a child’s life. It’s the runaway gravy train effect, and it’s too late to be thinking about unpacking our bags, hell is waiting impatiently. We gave money the freedom to play god.
So it’s time to put those greedy hands together all you faithful, and get down on your knees and pray. Amen.
