European countries keen to secure their own supplies – which have been backed by the EU – are creating incentives to increase domestic mining, while running comprehensive public relations campaigns that describe mining as green and reframe it. industry as a leader in the fight against climate change.

Regulator

Svein Lund, co-author of the Fennoscandian report, says Norway was one of the first to adopt this framework.

“In 2013, the Norwegian government drew up a mining strategy saying that mining should be increased and that it was acceptable to dump the tailings into the sea,” they add.

“The motivation for extraction was income for the state, municipalities and workplaces. There was no question of “going green”. It happened three years later… Suddenly all the mining companies and their allies went “green”.

“It was a huge PR ride for them. Later, when counties in northern Norway came up with their own mining strategy, they presented the one and only motivation for mining as ‘going green’. “

These trends indicate a critical conflict in the governance of mining across Europe. Governments have a duty to protect the environment and their people, for example by regulating industry on their behalf.

Reindeer

But after many decades of neoliberal capitalism, governments have also assumed a role of facilitator of harmful industries like mining, deregulating on their behalf in the hope of reaping foreign investment, meager royalties and taxes.

Mining companies operating in the Nordic countries and on the island of Ireland are doing everything possible to exploit this conflict of interest in times of climate crisis, portraying themselves as green and, where possible, linking their projects to growing demand for transition metals.

In Northern Ireland, for example, the mining company Dalradian Resources changed course to publicly present its Curragihault project not as a gold mine, as was originally advertised, but as a gold-copper mine. money. Copper and silver are seen as more integral to the transition to renewables than gold.

In Norway, the planned mine of mining company Nussir ASA in Riehppovuotna / Repparfjorden claims to be the world’s first “net zero” copper mine.

But despite its claims to be sustainable, the company plans to dispose of mining waste generated by its operations directly into a nearby salmon fjord, and would have massive impacts on reindeer herding.

Sacrifice

The company also failed to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of potentially affected indigenous Sami communities, in violation of International Labor Organization Convention 169, to which Norway is a signatory.

With the reframing of the mining industry in climate-friendly terms and promises of its expansion have come with reassurance that in Europe the industry will be regulated to the highest standards.

These assurances from governments and companies aim to justify the nickname “green mining” and allay the concerns of European citizens who view mining as a harmful and fundamentally unsustainable industry.

However, YLNM’s research reveals that there is a vast gap between government and corporate rhetoric and the realities of Europe’s new extractive frontiers. It casts major doubt on claims by the EU and member states that European mining is a gold standard that justifies new areas of sacrifice.

Professor Tero Mustonen, lead author of the latest IPCC report and co-author of the Fennoscandian YLNM research, says Finland, where the term ‘green mining’ was first popularized, is far from a “responsible” mining utopia.

Ecosystems

“Finland and the Nordic countries should be leading global conservation and rights issues and that is why it is so sad that behind the international facade lies blatant power politics, greed and the utter rejection of precautionary principles in mining matters on our lands, some of which are the last unspoiled wilderness in Europe. “

Mustonen’s analysis is supported by multiple case studies of mining disasters and mismanagement in northern Europe, which reveal an industry that is far from sustainable and clean.

A prime example is the Talvivaara / Terrafame nickel-zinc-cobalt (uranium) mine in eastern Finland, which used new heap leach technology to extract these minerals from a low-grade deposit.

Since opening, the mine has caused a series of significant leaks of toxic waste into surrounding waterways. The damage caused by these leaks is ongoing. Despite these impacts, the mine – nationalized after bankruptcy caused by the 2012/3 environmental disaster – is now touted as a prime example of ‘clean’ mining for Finland’s nascent battery supply chain.

In Fennoscandia and the Island of Ireland, the authors of YLNM’s new research reveal how the mining industry continues – despite so-called world-class regulation – to disrupt vital ecosystems, abuse and marginalize people. communities and violate indigenous rights.

Poorly regulated

Arne Müller, journalist and co-author of the report, says the green transition is also used to justify all new mining in Sweden, whether or not related to renewable energy production.

“The entire mining industry in Sweden is trying to portray itself as part of the transition to a fossil-free society.

“It is true that a number of metals are required for the production of renewable energy and electric vehicles, but among new mining projects you will also find, for example, a number of gold mines, which have no nothing to do with the ‘green’ transition. “

The continuation of the status quo can also be seen in the reluctance of the EU to deal with the continued supply of raw materials from non-EU countries, especially in the South.

The European Commission has made numerous attempts to present domestic mining in Europe as a tonic to build on poorly regulated mining in the South.

Operation

Yet the same institution refuses to tackle its unfair and exploitative trade relations with so-called “third countries” or to accept calls to combat the massive overconsumption of materials and energy in Europe and to reduce extractive pressures globally.

It is increasingly evident that the ecological toll of massive, market-driven global mining expansion will have a serious negative effect on our efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change – as well as undermine the human rights of communities in the world. the whole world.

Communities on the mining frontiers in Ireland and Fennoscandia know this and see through greenwash liberally applied to sell mining in times of ecological crisis.

Opposition to mining in Europe is escalating, as are calls for states to recognize that we cannot get out of the climate crisis through mining.

Properly regulating the mining industry would be a start. It is essential to tackle the historical and continuing exploitation of the countries of the South.

Dramatically

But communities also advocate the need to follow transformative pathways towards climate justice.

Lynda Sullivan, author of the Island of Ireland dispatch, says: “Calls on the Republic of Ireland and the governments of Northern Ireland to recognize that we cannot mine the climate crisis, as do the community examples of alternative ways out of the climate crisis and to justice and lasting peace among peoples and with the land.

“The message from the communities on the front lines of the island’s new mining areas is clear: respect our existence or expect resistance. “

The most pressing question is not where the new mining should take place, as the European states and the European Union suggest.

This is how we can immediately and dramatically reduce the need for new mines by tackling the ultimate drivers of this industry – overconsumption, inequality and the pursuit of endless economic growth.

These authors

Hannibal Rhoades is the contact person for Northern Europe for the Yes to Life, No to Mining Network. He directed the Beyond Extractivism program of the Gaia Foundation.

Lynda Sullivan is a writer, activist and researcher based in Northern Ireland. She works with Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland.

mirko nikolique is a Swedish-based artist, activist and scholar. He coordinates the Yes to Life, No to Mining Lithium working group.

Read YLNM’s New Island of Ireland and Fennoscandia research dispatches here. Visit the Yes to Life, No to Mining website for more information.