Thread by @_YLNM, THREAD: "Not in my back yard" ... "Guarantee highest standards"... "#Mining more [...]

THREAD: "Not in my back yard" ... "Guarantee highest standards"... " #Mining more sustainable in Europe"

Industry celebrates today& #39;s meeting of a new #EuropeanRawMaterialsAlliance with tired platitudes to justify new #Mining.

Here& #39;s why this is lazy...

https://www.politico.eu/article/why-the-eu-may-need-to-revive-mining-to-go-green">https://www.politico.eu/article/w...

ONE: "Not in my backyard attitude"

1st: As a new letter from CSOs and communities demonstrates, we stand in solidarity, North & South, against the extractive model, not just one mine, not just our & #39;back yard& #39; https://www.gaiafoundation.org/ec-we-cant-mine-our-way-out-of-the-climate-crisis/">https://www.gaiafoundation.org/ec-we-can...

Media Release: We can’t mine our way out of the climate crisis - Gaia Foundation

MEDIA RELEASE: 234 civil society organisations, communities and academics call on EC to align critical raw materials sourcing plans with the interests of the planet, communities and the climate. ...

https://www.gaiafoundation.org/ec-we-cant-mine-our-way-out-of-the-climate-crisis/

2nd: Places matter- as havens for #biodiversity, as part of the #climate system, as #public space.

Everywhere is someone& #39;s backyard and it& #39;s our duty to care for them.

3rd: We do not see #mining executives volunteering their back yards for open pit #mining.

But it seems it is easy to ask hundreds, thousands of people and many millions of non-human relatives to make a sacrifice.

Sacrifice Zones = Hypocrisy.

TWO: "Guarantee highest standards."

1st: There is little evidence these & #39;high standards& #39; have been applied in Europe, where we have seen several notable disasters.

To name a few:

-Talvivaara in Finland.
-Baia Mare in Romania.
-Aznalcollar in Spain.

2nd: With EU funding going into how to & #39;harmonise& #39; EU mining legislations across regions, speed up permitting and manufacture & #39; #SocialLicensetoOperate& #39; through surveillance of social movements, the picture is hardly looking rosy for the future.

http://www.envjustice.org/2020/09/mireu-backfires/">https://www.envjustice.org/2020/09/m...

3rd: How does these companies propose to apply high standards to & #39;new frontiers& #39; for mining, like the #deepsea - where no consensus on what constitutes adequate regulation exists- or areas previously protected from extraction?

Some places should just be off limits. Full stop.

THREE: " #Mining more sustainable in Europe"

Putting aside the disasters, soft and hard deregulation (sorry, & #39;harmonisation& #39;), the claim that repatriating mining to Europe is a move corporates want because of their desperate desire to be good, green citizens is laughable.

Overall demand for critical minerals and metals, under any business as usual scenario, is predicted to grow massively.

Therefore, opening new mines in Europe WILL NOT lead to a closure of mines in China, Russia or anywhere in the South.

There will just be more mines.

Europe& #39;s Raw Materials Strategies, whilst containing laudable mentions of the circular economy, look to secure supply within Europe AND in & #39;third countries& #39;.

There is no break from the tradition of extracting from the Global South, at great cost, here.

ALL of Europe& #39;s RM strategies are driven by an unquestioned assumption about the need for economic #growth and sustained by de-bunked myths about the possibility of absolutely #decoupling growth from resource use and pollution. https://eeb.org/library/decoupling-debunked/">https://eeb.org/library/d...

Decoupling debunked – Evidence and arguments against green growth as a sole strategy for sustaina...

This report reviews the empirical and theoretical literature to assess the validity of this hypothesis. The conclusion is both overwhelmingly clear and sobering: not only is there no empirical...

https://eeb.org/library/decoupling-debunked/

The latest scientific studies reveal that in a high-demand, growth-driven scenario:

"...new [mining] threats to biodiversity may surpass those averted by climate change mitigation." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17928-5">https://www.nature.com/articles/...

Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity

Renewable energy production is necessary to mitigate climate change, however, generating the required technologies and infrastructure will demand huge production increases of many metals. Here, the...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17928-5

Meanwhile, other studies reveal how Europe& #39;s planned, massive repatriation of #mining threatens the rural transitions towards more #sustainable modes of living across the continent. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7413129/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic...

New extractivism in European rural areas: How twentieth first century mining returned to disturb...

In this article we aim to explore the still incipient first steps of the return of extractivism to Europe, examining the geopolitical context that led to a reemergence of metal mining in rural areas....

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7413129/

A #circulareconomy, meaningful action on #climatechange and an end to exploitative #extractivism are not possible in a growth system.

A Just and effective transition to #renewableenergy must be #postextractive and #postgrowth (in Europe at least)

https://waronwant.org/sites/default/files/Post-Extractivist_Transition_WEB_0.pdf">https://waronwant.org/sites/def...

All of these points and more are made in a new letter to the European Commission, sent by 230+ community platforms, CSOs and academics from Europe and across the Global South.

Read it here: https://www.gaiafoundation.org/ec-we-cant-mine-our-way-out-of-the-climate-crisis/">https://www.gaiafoundation.org/ec-we-can...

Media Release: We can’t mine our way out of the climate crisis - Gaia Foundation

MEDIA RELEASE: 234 civil society organisations, communities and academics call on EC to align critical raw materials sourcing plans with the interests of the planet, communities and the climate. ...

https://www.gaiafoundation.org/ec-we-cant-mine-our-way-out-of-the-climate-crisis/

Instead of trying to mine our way out of the #climateemergency, we must develop new and more imaginative priorities and responses.

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https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌍" title="Europa-Afrika auf dem Globus" aria-label="Emoji: Europa-Afrika auf dem Globus">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌱" title="Setzling" aria-label="Emoji: Setzling">

Instead of trying to mine our way out of the #climateemergency, we must develop new and more imaginative priorities and responses.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=

As an institution created to serve the people of Europe, the EU must see through the mining industry& #39;s tired logic, & embrace a new path mandated by climate logic & the people standing up for Europe& #39;s true treasures- healthy lands, clean waters, powerful, democratic communities.

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