Political Report # 1434
How a Rising Anti-Mining Movement is Challenging Portugal's "White Gold" Rush
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Throughout Portugal, people are organizing to stop a boom in
lithium mining, as the government rushes to become Europe’s top supplier of the
valuable mineral.
The global transition to renewable energy and electric
vehicles — technologies that are currently powered by lithium-ion batteries —
is creating a high demand for lithium, popularly known as white gold, among
other minerals. In Portugal, where some of the largest reserves of lithium in
Europe are located, the government recently launched a strategy to increase
mining and supply of the mineral for this emerging market. However, residents
and organizations throughout the country are questioning the impacts of that
large-scale mining plan and who will really benefit from it.
“Lithium mining in Portugal involves large open-cast mines
that rip open huge tracts of land-destroying soils and ecosystems,” said Laura
Williams, a resident based in central Portugal, who is having to deal with
lithium mining activities on her doorstep. “It uses huge amounts of water in
the processing, which then contaminates ground and river water. The huge
machines that are used have a massive impact in terms of noise and vibrations
on local communities.”
Awareness raising
In August, Williams helped to organize a creative protest at
the highest point in mainland Portugal, on Serra da Estrela mountain. About 400
residents gathered to create an art image with their bodies — of a tree and
water circle — to send a collective message: “No to Mines, Water is Life.” The
demonstration was filmed with drones and distributed across the media to raise
awareness about the environmental and social impacts of mining for lithium and
other minerals, which are often not officially disclosed.
“I do not campaign on this issue simply to get mines out of
Portugal and send them somewhere else,” Williams explained. “For me, the real
issue is that attempting to solve an ecological problem with a solution that
involves more extraction — in this case, mining for lithium to make electric
cars to reduce CO2 emissions — is not a solution. In fact, it is heading in the
opposite direction of what is called for at this time: to protect and restore
ecosystems.”
In the last three years alone, Portugal has received
hundreds of requests for prospecting and exploration of lithium by national and
foreign companies. Today it is estimated that lithium prospecting already
covers more than 10 percent of the country’s territory. And in some cases,
proposed areas of exploration are adjacent to protected or classified sites,
which is fueling opposition.
In the Serra da Estrela region, for example, several
requests for the prospecting of lithium and other minerals were recently made.
However, the area is surrounded by sites of cultural, ecological and geological
importance, such as the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, which is in the process
of being classified as a Global Geopark by UNESCO. As a result, four local
organizations issued a joint written statement to express their “deep concern”
and reasons for opposing the mining interests in that area. The groups also
declared that they are preparing to give “more rigorous and detailed technical
advice on this issue” and urged the local authorities to make their position
clear as well.
Community organizing
“We have been working in unison with other associations that
are struggling with the same problem,” said Maria do Carmo Mendes, a member of
the Guardians of Serra da Estrela, one of the groups confronting mining in
sites of community importance. She said that the group has already sent a
letter of complaint to the Directorate General for Energy and Geology, the
administration that oversees mining developments in Portugal. And together with
other local organizations, they are pressuring the directorate for “absolute
transparency in the process of granting mining licenses,” in addition to having
an outside entity conduct environmental impact studies before a decision is
made.
In the north of Portugal, in a rural town called Covas do
Barroso, a group of residents has united to defend their land and livelihoods
from big mining interests. They came together after finding out about requests
for open-pit lithium mining in their area, which is classified as a Globally
Important Agricultural Heritage System by the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization. A spokesperson from the Association United in Defense
of Covas do Barroso, announced that the local community realized they would
have to fight “powerful economic and political interests.” Therefore, they
decided “to unite and speak in unison” to ensure that the rights and needs of
the community are respected.
The group has been working to educate the community and has
organized protests to persuade the national government to withdraw lithium
prospecting concessions in Covas do Barroso, which is already causing
environmental and social problems. Last month, after a visit from the state
secretary for energy in the City Hall of Covas’ municipality, dozens of
residents surrounded the secretary’s vehicle making it difficult for him to
leave. As they held posters with messages against lithium mining in the area,
protesters shouted: “No to the Mine, Yes to Life.”
Also, citizens from two neighbor municipalities in central
Portugal have united to defend the preservation of the Serra da Argemela region
and to “protect the environmental, health, economic and cultural heritage” of
its community. The Group for the Preservation of Serra da Argemela, or GPSA,
has organized several demonstrations, public meetings and interventions against
mining for lithium and other minerals in the region since 2017. This year,
following a petition that gained the signature of many residents, organizations
and representatives of local government, the group persuaded the national authorities
to reject current mining requests in the Argemela (at least, until an
Environmental Impact Study is officially presented by mining companies).
“A big victory would be if citizens could rest assured that
their rights will always be defended by the state,” GPSA member Ana Morão said,
when asked if the Portuguese government’s move was a victory for them. “Until
then, in addition to the right to demonstrate, the GPSA will exercise its
rights of reply and contestation, particularly in the context of the public
consultation that will be carried out alongside the Environmental Impact
Study.”
Online organizing
Residents across the country have also been organizing
online, through Facebook groups, for instance, to exchange information about
the mining development plans and their implications, and to mobilize offline
demonstrations.
The Movement Against Mining Beira Serra, is one of the
Facebook groups created this year in response to the lithium mining boom, which
now has over 5,000 members. Nik Völker, an administrator of the group, said
that they are currently focusing on raising awareness around the issue, but
have already taken part in local and national demonstrations, information
sessions and campaigns in cooperation with other similar movements.
“Our main demand is the right to free, prior and informed
consent of any local community being considered for any new mineral exploration
or exploitation project,” Völker said. “As long as these conditions are not
met, both companies and government will have to deal with our local and
national peaceful protest, and possible legal interventions in the near
future.”
Vítor Afonso, one of the members from the Movement Against
Exploitation of Mineral Resources in the Municipality of Montalegre, a Facebook
group with more than 3,600 members, created in May 2019, explained that he is
against open-pit mining for lithium and other minerals not only in his area but
throughout the country. “It’s not a desirable or sustainable development
model,” he said. “The planet has no capacity to regenerate if it continues to
be exploited the way it has been.”
As a form of protest against the lithium mining plans for
Montalegre, residents decided to boycott the European elections in May and the
local elections in October. In addition to demonstrating on the streets during
election day, they also placed banners that read “No to the Mine, Yes to Life”
in front of the City Hall and across public spaces.
A national platform called Say No To Mines was recently
created to facilitate the learning and cooperation between activists and
movements that oppose the mining plans, especially for lithium, adopted in
Portugal. Yet the Portuguese people are far from being alone in this endeavor.
Yes to Life, No to Mining is a global network of and for communities that are
battling against destructive mining projects and seeking life-sustaining
alternatives.
Contesting the political economy strategy
The exploitation of lithium — considered a fundamental step
for an “energy transition” by the Portuguese government — has been
systematically contested by the National Association for Nature Conservation,
called Quercus. The organization publicly requested an “immediate suspension of
the government’s strategy for lithium,” after conducting a study that concluded
the process of mining for lithium, a non-renewable resource, will result in
“high levels of CO2 emissions.” They estimated that each lithium mine will emit
an additional 1.79 million tons of greenhouse gases per year, which means it’s
an energy development plan that’s still environmentally unsustainable.
Quercus also organized the first National Forum on the
Environment and Lithium, on June 22, that was attended by several
representatives of movements, organizations and political parties, who are
concerned about the consequences of lithium mining. The event was developed in
partnership with the organization Environment in Uraniferous Zones, which has
been fighting for the environmental recovery of abandoned uranium mines that
still affect the health of local populations in various parts of the country,
since 2002.
Alternatives to lithium mining were also discussed in the
forum, including the various technologies that can support a sustainable energy
transition and electric mobility, such as the use of hydrogen and biogas fuel,
which are renewable and generate low or zero carbon emissions. The next steps
agreed upon at the event include organizing a formal meeting with all political
parties, the minister of environment and energy transition, and Portugal’s
president to debate problems with the lithium mining strategy and potential
alternatives.
The anti-mining movement that is emerging in Portugal, and
growing globally, is a clear sign that a “business as usual” development model
— oriented to the ever-increasing exploitation of natural resources and unfair
economic practices — is no longer accepted by society. And decision-makers will
have to respond accordingly.
“Article 66 of the Portuguese Constitution states that
‘everyone is entitled to an environment of human life, healthy and ecologically
balanced, and the duty to defend it,’” Afonso said. “The duty to defend our
territories will certainly be exercised [by the people].”
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