According to environmentalists, more use should be made of existing mines and recycling, but this is not supported by legislation.
9.6. 12:19 • Updated 9.6. 13:01
According to the newspaper, more than 20 mining projects have been approved by the authorities for further work. In addition, half a dozen other applications are pending.
The projects are based on the industry’s efforts to stop emissions of climate-friendly gases and to switch to zero-emission technologies. This green shift requires a large increase in the use of certain minerals. In the Swedish bedrock, these minerals such as nickel, cobalt, graphite and copper would be available.
Minerals are needed to build batteries and wind farms, among other things. The need is great, as emissions from fossil energy use must be drastically reduced in the coming years.
The new mines are facing resistance, as opencast mining in particular and the huge amount of quarry waste coming from it are drastically changing the landscape and nature. Sámi and reindeer herders are also in opposition.
The rights of the Sámi in law, but not in practice
In Sweden, the rights of the Sámi to reindeer husbandry and their own culture are enshrined in law. The problem is that the regulations do not extend to the regulation of mining.
Reindeer husbandry requires a great deal of land. It has been tweaked over the decades on a variety of grounds.
The regulations do not force operators to take into account the combined effect of several projects. That is why the law is unfair, because it ultimately ignores fundamental rights, says a docent at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Kaisa Rautio Dagens Nyheterille (you switch to another service).
– You can’t just talk about one mine separately. The conflict would be quite different if the Sámi villages had their land preserved, and only then would there be a mine. That is, there would be no hydropower, forest use, predators, windmills and infrastructure. This cumulative effect is essential in order to understand the situation., He says.
In Sweden, perhaps the controversy over the Kallak mine (Gállok in Sámi) has received the most attention. British mining company Beowulf wants to open an iron ore mine in the area. The Sámi residents of the area are strongly opposed to the mine.
According to Beowulf, the mine would create jobs and its area of 13 square kilometers would be only 0.5 per cent of the reindeer herding in the village of Jåhkågasska. Reindeer owners point out that the mine would split the reindeer husbandry area in half. Reindeer should be taken from one pasture to another in trucks. Moreover, each quarry would not produce the minerals needed for the green transition, but ordinary iron ore.
The Swedish government is now considering the extent to which Sámi rights to reindeer husbandry may affect mining projects. In Kaisa Raut’s opinion, at least the most damaging projects should be filtered out.
Conservationists between two fires
Preventing climate change is a headache for conservationists. Preventing climate change is essential, but what about tackling the harmful effects of zero-emission technology on nature?
Interview with DN, Secretary General of the Swedish Association for Nature Conservation Svante Axelssonin according to a lot can be done.
According to him, more can be made of existing mines. Mining can also be made more environmentally friendly through electrification, automation and robotics.
Second, Axelsson emphasizes the recycling of materials. Mining can be significantly reduced by recycling existing material.
Mines inexpensive, recycling expensive?
Also campaign manager for the environmental organization Greenpeace Carl Schlyter would emphasize recycling. He points out that Swedish legislation encourages the establishment of mines, but not the recycling of material obtained there.
– Mines need to be taxed more, digging up is expensive, but recycling is cheap. Today it is the opposite.
According to Schlyter, no taxes are levied on the extraction of minerals, and mining companies also receive large discounts on electricity bills. Instead, small subsidies for recycling are not given at all, he tells DN.
If the green transition requires more use of natural resources, the trend is wrong, Schlyter says.
– A new kind of industry will be late even if it is completed. We have already had time to destroy the climate, Carl Schlyter predicts.