Gold is an element that has profoundly influenced the physical and sociological structure of the earth through history due to its abstract value, although there is no benefit that should be considered. Today most of the gold is used as jewelry. Or rather not used. Most of the extracted gold is stored in boxes as bars. It is constantly changing in shape and is in constant physical or virtual circulation. Perhaps your gold watch includes a Roman coin that was in circulation 2,000 years ago. This is a financial asset that can be virtualized by doing some transactions on the stock exchange.

How global industry turned a once green Turkish province into an environmental wasteland. The Toxic Valley investigation also sought to measure the extent of pollution in the area. When official statistics proved vague or out of date, we took samples of Dilovası’s main river and had them analysed by experts. The samples revealed levels of metals and harmful chemicals such as mercury, iron and ammonia far in excess of legal limits. In 2007, a Turkish parliamentary commission reported on the environmental effects of industrialisation in the area, recommending that Dilovası be designated a “health disaster zone”. But rather than curbing the industrialisation of Kocaeli, the Turkish government has encouraged it, by dramatically expanding the number of industrial zones and providing incentives to businesses in the area.

Turkish scientist, food engineer and human rights activist Bülent Şık was sentenced to 15 months in jail after publishing the results of a study he and other scientists had done that linked toxic pollution to a high incidence of cancer in western Turkey. The study was commissioned by Turkey’s Ministry of Health to see whether there was a connection between toxicity in soil, water, and food and the high incidence of cancer in western Turkey. Working for 5 years, Şık and a team of scientists discovered dangerous levels of pesticides, heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in multiple food and water samples from several provinces in western Turkey. Water in several residential areas was also found to be unsafe for drinking because of lead, aluminum, chrome, and arsenic pollution.

The illicit trade in diamonds has funded brutal wars and human rights abuses for decades. Despite significant progress, the problem has not gone away. Diamonds have funded brutal wars in countries such as Angola, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, resulting in the death and displacement of millions of people. There is a reason they are dubbed ‘Blood Diamonds’.

In Rubber Barons, Global Witness documents the devastating impact of Vietnam’s rush for rubber on local communities in Laos and Cambodia. The investigation also shows how international financiers Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation were backing these land grabs – often in contravention of their own policies. In both Laos and Cambodia, national laws are supposed to protect forests, limit the size of foreign land concessions and require consultation with local communities over land use, but these laws are rarely enforced. Millions of hectares of land have been handed over without the knowledge or consent of the people who live on it.