LKAB, the Liberal party board and the Farmers’ Confederation (LRF) were the three nominees for the anti-prize awarded by Friends of the Earth.
Anyone could vote for the three finalists and on Saturday the results were presented at the Book Fair in Gothenburg.
There it is clear that the state mining company LKAB received the most votes and that no previous winner has ever received so many votes.
“They are Sweden’s fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide and the new Per Geijer mine threatens to split the Sami village of Gabna in half and collapse the reindeer industry in the area. Nevertheless, the state-owned mining company claims that they are living the way in the transformation of their industry,” the justification reads, among other things.
“Great that they won”
Sara-Elvira Kuhmunen, chair Sáminuorra, attended the award ceremony and she is pleased that LKAB took home the award.
– I think it’s fantastic that they have won and that their business is now given a different light and that they get to review what they are doing, she says.
Why do you think this award is important?
– I think it is very important to highlight this for LKAB to legitimize its business of violating human rights by putting it in the name of the green transition.
LKAB had been invited to attend the award ceremony but declined.
In a comment to SVT Sápmi, LKAB’s press manager Anders Lindberg comments on the award.
“The friends of the earth are fundamentally wrong. LKAB does not engage in greenwashing, critical minerals are really needed if our society is to be able to change, it is not something we have invented. And we have talked long and hard about the challenges with the impact on reindeer husbandry that may arise if we are allowed to open a new mine,” he writes.