Sa\u0161a Dragojlo. Balkan Insight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Serbian and German environmentalist groups ask EC to rethink naming planned Rio Tinto mine a \u2018strategic project\u2019, insisting it fails to meet environmental criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mar\u0161 sa Drine and German NGO \u201cGreen Legal Impact\u201d have sent a request to the European Commission and its Critical Raw Materials Board, asking them not to label Rio Tinto\u2019s planned lithium mine in western Serbia a \u201cstrategic project\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Commission is currently deliberating recognition of the \u201cJadar\u201d project as a \u201cStrategic Project\u201d under Article 6 of the EU\u2019s Critical Raw Materials Act, CRMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter, seen by BIRN, was sent on November 17. The two organisations claim the project fails to meet the criteria set out for designation as a \u201cStrategic Project\u201d under the CRMA, since \u201cthe ongoing and potential environmental and social impacts of this project raise substantial legal concerns, which we believe disqualify it from such recognition\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe respectfully urge the Commission and the Critical Raw Materials Board to reject the application for \u2018Strategic Project\u2019 status for the Jadar project, in alignment with the principles and objectives of the CRMA, including the promotion of sustainability and environmental protection,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 41-page document obtained by BIRN, details why Rio Tinto\u2019s project, which is backed by Serbia\u2019s government as well as EU countries, such as Germany, will have an environmental and socially destructive impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It emphasizes the risk of water and soil contamination, biodiversity loss, the negative social impact that would result from the necessary relocation of local residents and the potential impact on agriculture in a region characterized by fertile land and small-scale farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter notes \u201cgovernance issues\u201d surrounding development of the project, claiming it has been marred by administrative irregularities, state repression of activists and allegedly misleading business practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It refers to internationally recognised human rights that the project, the organisations say, \u201crisks infringing on\u201d, such as the right to safe drinking water and food and a to clean, healthy and sustainable environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lithium project has caused huge controversy in Serbia and has sparked massive protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July<\/a>, Serbia and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding that greenlit the planned mine in the Jadar Valley, despite environmental concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EU is seeking fresh lithium sources for use in electric car batteries, in order to reduce its dependence on Chinese imports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an indication of how important the mine project is to the European Union, the signing ceremony was overseen by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as well as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Days before, Serbia\u2019s government put back in force<\/a> a plan to realise the project, which it had cancelled in 2022 following mass protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Activists fear the project will damage water and land in western Serbia, while some Serbs say they feel steamrollered by the powerful multinational giant, which has been accused of causing environmental damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Protesters claim the financial benefits for Serbia will be small and note that other Rio Tinto ventures around the world have been dogged by controversy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lithium mining is a chemical-intensive process that involves digging up vast amounts of rock and extracting those with lithium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rio Tinto claims the mine planned in the Jadar Valley region will be among the biggest in Europe and will make the company one of the top ten lithium producers in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sa\u0161a Dragojlo. Balkan Insight. Serbian and German environmentalist groups ask EC to rethink naming planned Rio Tinto mine a \u2018strategic project\u2019, insisting it fails to meet environmental criteria. Mar\u0161 sa Drine and German NGO \u201cGreen Legal Impact\u201d have sent a request to the European Commission and its Critical Raw Materials Board, asking them not to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-info-and-news-en","8":"category-foreign-media"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1929,"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928\/revisions\/1929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marssadrine.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}