Introduction and Overview

This volume is the outcome of an international conference held at the Villa Serbeloni, Bellagio, Italy in November of 1982. Its theme centres on the nature of ‘megaprojects’ in the field of natural-resource exploitation: what kinds of risks are associated with them, who bears the risks, whether the problems have increased or decreased in recent years, how to control the conflicts inherent in such projects, and what the roles of financing agencies, governments (host or developer nations) are. All investments have risks. What then is so special about natural-resource projects whether in oil or liquefied natural gas, copper or aluminium? Certainly it would be fruitless to define quantitatively what the conference meant by a ‘megaproject’. Like many things, they are difficult to describe but readily identified when confronted. None the less, there are some specific features that underlie all the contributions to this volume.