3 yıl önce

Serbia suspends lithium mine plans after mass environmental protests

A local council in Loznica has voted to pause a government-backed plan allowing mining giant Rio Tinto to extract lithium following nationwide protests, the biggest challenge yet to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Reuters

Environmentalists are upset at the Serbian government’s lack of response to rising pollution in the country.

Local authorities in western Serbia have suspended a plan that would allow mining giant Rio Tinto to operate a lithium mine, following protests by environmentalists that shook the country’s leadership.

The mining had been expected to start in the near future, but a town council in Loznica voted to suspend a regional development plan that permitted the excavation of lithium on Thursday.

The vote followed the suspension last week of two key laws in Serbia’s parliament that ecologists said would help the multinational mining company start the project.

For three consecutive weekends, thousands of protesters in Belgrade and elsewhere in Serbia blocked main roads and bridges to oppose Rio Tinto's plan to launch a $2.4 billion mining operation in Serbia.

The protests were the biggest challenge yet to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Rising pollution in Serbia

“Whether there will be a mine depends on people (in western Serbia) and the study on environmental impact assessment,” Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said.

“These are the two conditions that the president (Vucic) stated earlier.”

Although Rio Tinto said it would adhere to all the latest environmental protection standards, organisers of the weekend protests said the lithium excavation could inflict lasting ecological damage to rivers and farmland in the region.

Now that the lithium mine plans are on hold, Vucic said earlier this week that from now on “we will have to speak in a different way to Rio Tinto and others.”

Throughout its almost 150-year history, the company has faced accusations of corruption, environmental degradation and human rights abuses at its excavation sites.

Lithium, which is used in batteries for electric cars, is considered one of the most sought-after metals of the future as the world shifts to more renewable energy sources.

As Serbia faces an electricity shortage, Vucic has ignored European Union pleas for countries to reduce CO2 emissions and pledged to continue and even expand coal mining for power plants.

Environmentalists are upset at the Serbian government’s lack of response to rising pollution in the country.