Corporate and State Mining Legitimated: Transferring Future Economic Benefits or Passing the Buck?

The responsibility for pollution resulting from mining, according to the OECD’s Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) rests with the owners of the mining entity. This principle relies on a number of legislative instruments and often a mix of command and control mechanisms are advocated. The case of the Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea is used to demonstrate that this mix raises conflicts and paradoxes for the shareholders and the regulator. The discourse of ‘future economic benefits’ was used by both the Australian company, BHP Billiton and the PNG Government, whilst responsibility and liabilities were shifted between them. This accounting terminology served to mediate the use of legislative instruments which conferred institutional legitimacy to the transfer of responsibility. In this case, “passing the buck” is constructed as legal and rational thus legitimating the conduct of both the corporation and the State and ultimately rendering the PPP elusive.