Europe is striving to increase its domestic production of metals. Mines located in Northern Sweden will play a crucial role in fulfilling the EU's objectives, but they are already encountering resistance from local communities, foreshadowing potential challenges that may arise throughout the EU.
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00:00 Everyone wants to own the land, but from the Sami perspective, I mean, it's impossible to own land.
00:10 It's a part of the world that we all are living on.
00:14 If you want a green economy, you will need more metals, and that metal has to come from somewhere.
00:21 The reindeer is the backbone of the Sami culture.
00:25 We know how much a mine affects a reindeer herding community.
00:29 They need this iron or the copper or whatever it is, so we have to move.
00:35 Mining in Europe has been under pressure for decades.
00:39 Of course we have an impact on the environment, but should we build our entire climate transition on metals being produced in other continents?
00:51 We will pass a tipping point when it's not possible for the reindeers to survive anymore.
00:57 And we will lose the entire Sami culture, and the last indigenous people of Europe will disappear.
01:05 This is Europe's largest copper mine located in northern Sweden.
01:15 Copper, along with 33 other raw materials, is considered critical for Europe's economy.
01:20 Which is why in the next five years governments across the bloc will be pushing for projects like this one on European soil.
01:27 I've come here to see what this means for the mining industry, for local communities and for Europe's future.
01:34 This is spring in northern Sweden for you.
01:37 We produce around 45 million tons each year of ore which is being transported further down south in Sweden in order to be refined and sent to customers.
01:50 Humans have been mining copper for thousands of years.
01:54 But the energy and digital transitions have sparked an unprecedented interest for this metal, renowned for its remarkable conductivity of electricity.
02:03 In Sweden several projects are underway to tackle an anticipated 40% increase in global demand by 2040.
02:11 The middle class continues to expand and again they demand copper.
02:15 That's why copper is called Dr. Copper. It follows the growth of GDP in the world.
02:20 Everything is being electrified and everything will need copper.
02:24 So we will demand more copper going forward.
02:27 We have quite a weak copper production in Europe today. We are heavily reliant on other continents.
02:33 We need to start expanding and developing new copper deposits.
02:38 Expansion at Boliden is already underway.
02:41 Another copper deposit right beside the main open pit will begin producing ore this year.
02:47 But this excavation comes at a cost.
02:49 Some 100 people living near the new pit, like Katarina, had to be relocated.
02:56 It has been David's fight against Goliath.
03:00 We small real estate owners are trying to claim that this big company has all the resources,
03:08 and you know they have a lot of money, but still they are trying to come with a scanty offer.
03:14 After six years of tense discussions, Katarina finally struck a deal with Boliden
03:20 and moved to a new home 30 kilometers away from the one that had belonged to her family for five generations.
03:26 We have seen a huge increase in standards.
03:31 We have a newer house, we have a bigger house.
03:34 I am happy about that.
03:36 But I still say that we are still losers because we have lost all our social context.
03:43 It was a nice place.
03:46 I am announcing a European Critical Raw Materials Act.
03:51 The story of Katarina in Boliden highlights the hurdles facing Europe's Critical Raw Materials Act
03:58 adopted by the European Parliament in late 2023.
04:01 Copper, lithium, cobalt, and all 34 metals and minerals are now considered vital
04:07 for electric batteries, renewable energy systems, and modern weapons.
04:12 The goal is to meet their explosive demand by diversifying imports,
04:17 increasing EU-made processing and recycling, and accelerating mining permits in Europe.
04:22 By 2030, the EU aims to mine at least 10% of its annual consumption of raw materials,
04:30 up from about 3% currently.
04:32 For this Brussels-based researcher, this reflects a new political reality.
04:37 This is very ambitious, and it might be challenging to achieve this in practice,
04:41 especially given that most of the studies, most available studies,
04:45 decide 10 to 15 years as the amount of time required to basically open,
04:50 to start the operation of a new mine.
04:51 I think that the war in Ukraine shaked things here in Brussels,
04:54 and we realized that basically depending on any country or region for our raw material supplies,
05:00 it could entail risks for Europe in the future.
05:03 Every shape on this map represents a deposit of critical raw materials,
05:08 and new geological studies could reveal even more.
05:11 But for each new mine, local resistance is likely to arise.
05:15 I think it's very possible that we know, we will see some local opposition
05:19 when it comes to opening a new mine.
05:21 The environmental impacts of mining depend very much on the local environment,
05:25 whether, for example, there are abundant water resources,
05:28 whether the mine is closer to a forest or to an area with high biodiversity.
05:32 So there are impacts, we know this, but at the same time,
05:35 our consumption patterns haven't changed.
05:37 In fact, if you look into demand for raw materials, it has even increased in recent years.
05:42 So there is, let's say, there is a trade-off here.
05:44 Back in northern Sweden, I meet with Niela Inge,
05:49 a member of the Sami, the EU's only indigenous people.
05:53 Their traditional land, spanning four countries,
05:56 has been gradually fragmented by a combination of mining, logging, cities and transport networks.
06:02 For reindeer herders like Niela,
06:04 this industrial development threatens not only their livelihoods,
06:07 but also the entire Sami culture.
06:10 Our migration routes that the reindeer uses has been cut off and moved bit by bit.
06:18 In Sweden, you are killing indigenous people, you're not shooting them,
06:23 but you're taking away their opportunity to continue with their traditional lifestyle.
06:31 One mining company especially has shaped the landscape and the history of this region,
06:36 the state-owned LKAB.
06:38 Their underground Arunor mine in Kiruna, active since the late 19th century,
06:43 is the largest in the world.
06:45 But another discovery, right outside Kiruna,
06:48 has put Sweden at the heart of Europe's scramble for the planet's declining resources.
06:53 We have discovered the largest deposit of REEs within Europe.
07:00 REEs, or rare earth elements, are a subgroup of strategic metals with unique properties,
07:05 found in many places around the world, but in very small quantities.
07:09 Today, China is the undisputed leader in this market,
07:13 providing Europe with nearly 100% of its REE needs.
07:17 The EU is way too dependent on other countries for these materials.
07:23 There is really a great potential for Europe to now take the lead in the green transition.
07:29 We can reduce carbon footprint and strengthen our competitiveness at the same time.
07:36 Not everyone in Kiruna is swayed by this argument.
07:41 Karin, a local Sami, suspects LKAB of using the so-called green transition
07:47 to further encroach on Sami land.
07:49 It is green colonialism.
07:53 Land grabbing is a mining activity.
07:59 It is yet another large pit that LKAB wants to open.
08:03 And it just so happens that it is now fitting to call it green.
08:10 In connection with Sweden, the EU has taken over the presidency.
08:15 So naturally, it was a pressure trick.
08:18 But it was also a way to put pressure on the EU.
08:22 To push forward this critical raw material act.
08:28 LKAB refused to be interviewed for this story.
08:32 But Karin's opinion is shared by environmental NGOs
08:35 who have criticized the industry's lobbying efforts
08:38 to grant strategic mining projects a superior public interest than nature protection.
08:44 Regardless of the next EU elections results, metals will remain a priority for Europe,
08:50 potentially heightening tensions between energy transition and autonomy on the one hand
08:55 and local environmental concerns on the other.
08:58 They say they have their mines for the climate.
09:02 And I say, "Bullshit!"
09:04 They have their mines to make money.
09:06 No one opens a mine to save the climate.
09:09 In the Western world, it's an abusive standpoint to say that
09:14 we want all of that infrastructure here,
09:16 but we should not produce any of the minerals here.
09:20 If we want to change or save the planet, we have to change our way of living also.
09:25 Do we need all this stuff? Do we need a new car?
09:28 Do we need a new phone every year?
09:32 We are over-consuming, and that's the biggest reason why we have this climate collapse.
09:37 Ultimately, in the face of this climate crisis,
09:41 Europe will need to bridge competing interests as it navigates an uncertain transition
09:46 from fossil fuel addiction to dependency on metals.
09:50 [Music]