“At a time when the world is reorganizing itself and the battle for raw materials is becoming increasingly merciless, it is important to focus on the fundamental dependencies of our world.”

I would like to share this excerpt from my book “Mind the Seagulls” with you, because while many are still discussing ideologies, it has long been about power in the pit, about dependency and control. I come from a mining family and I know that without raw materials there can be neither prosperity nor sovereignty. Raw materials in Europe and worldwide are not a marginal issue, they are the recurring central battleground. A claim of the times. In view of the catastrophic effects of climate change, the not-too-distant future will probably also be dominated by mass migrations, while the raw materials wars are on the increase.

With the signing of the Mercosur agreement, an old European truth has been rediscovered: Europe’s path to perhaps the world’s largest peace project was a raw materials project from the very beginning. Long before the European Union became a political reality, the EEC and Euratom, and later the European Community, deliberately created a framework in which coal, steel and energy were no longer the cause of power struggles, but the subject of common rules. The idea behind this was as sober as it was revolutionary: those who are economically intertwined will no longer be in conflict with each other over resources.
After all, raw materials are never just materials; they are always also projection surfaces for power and the cause of conflict or the basis and opportunity for cooperation. Europe’s own history shows that potential resource wars can be consciously turned into a resource peace if dependencies are not denied, but rather organized and thought about together.

Commodity wars
We are surrounded both by internal commodity conflicts, when rebel groups or secessionist movements seize territory rich in raw materials, and by armed conflicts between different states that each lay claim to an area rich in raw materials. An expansion of the product range beyond the usual commodities of war, such as oil and gas, is foreseeable. For example, power sources for the AI and source areas for water.

“La Guerra del Agua”, the Bolivian water war, marked perhaps the world’s first violent conflict over the distribution of water. Rivalries over precious resources such as rare earths will be joined by those over rare aerosols, i.e. particularly healthy air. Sand is already considered a scarce commodity, and sand syndicates have been plundering the deposits for years – primarily for the construction industry. According to the UN Environment Program, around ten million cubic metres of sand are illegally extracted every year. While sunny locations have been in vogue for many decades, the increasing heat has meant that high-altitude locations and shady areas are becoming the focus of residential development. Displacement movements and tensions over natural resources, food and habitats are also inevitable at a local level.

We can currently see from the example of Russia how energy is being used as a weapon in the fight against the West through a monopoly position, thus promoting a European supply crisis that, in the best-case scenario, heralds independence from fossil fuels. Subsequently, it is likely that “urban mining”, i.e. the recycling of material flows, will make a significant contribution to the conservation of natural and artificial resources. This ambitious circular economy, which encompasses all material flows along the value chain – from raw material extraction to waste management – is likely to become one of the world’s leading new industries.

Raw materials peace
In contrast to the dramatic developments in the conflict with Russia, there are also hopeful examples of peaceful interstate use of raw materials. In view of the devastating effects of the Second World War and the constant threat of East-West confrontation, Franco-German reconciliation became the order of the day. With the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community signed in Paris in 1951, the six founding states of Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands agreed to merge their coal and steel industries. This decision was the first step on the road to European integration. The Treaties of Rome of 1957 strengthened the basis of European solidarity in the sense of a common blueprint for the future.

The agreement not only promoted European solidarity, but also strengthened the identity of steel-producing towns such as Linz and mining regions such as the Hausruck. It raised the status of the steelmakers and the reputation of the miners. Steel became the pillar and the coal seam the foundation of our European homeland with regard to a democratic, pluralistic and liberal orientation of the various states and population groups.

My home community of Ottnang am Hausruck lies at an altitude of 554 meters above sea level and gives its name to a regional chronostratographic period of the Miocene epoch, the ‘Ottnangian’, also known as the ‘Ottnangian Stage’ or ‘Ottnangien’. The area is mainly made up of gravel, history and stories. There are deposits of brown coal, oil and gas, plenty of atrocities and heroic deeds as well as art, culture and traditions.

The environment shapes people and vice versa. People are a reflection of their environment. Geography is destiny. Sites and cities are a symbol of identity and authenticity, they inspire high performance, often evoke strong emotions, form the humus for different cultures and open up scope for action.

Raw materials as a unifying foundation for shared security: do we have the courage to secure raw materials together and use them responsibly?
Commodity wars are the result of short-sightedness. Let us not forget: “The environment shapes people and vice versa. People are a reflection of their environment. Geography is destiny.” Peace in raw materials requires foresight! History teaches us that peace in raw materials is possible, but responsibility and the will to cooperate are fundamental, vital and unavoidable. Europe’s strength and intention has always been to organize dependencies peacefully. In a globalized world, this question is once again being decided: will raw materials become the bone of contention of a new bloc logic, or the unifying foundation of common security? After all, those who focus solely on their own advantage and ignore the bigger picture risk not more autonomy, but new conflicts.