Submitted by
Bertrand.SANSONNENS
on Tue, 01/30/2018 - 21:08
General Information
Resolution
46470
IUCN Constituent
Pro Natura / Friends of the Earth Switzerland
IUCN Constituent type
IUCN Member organisation
Period covered
Geographic scope
Global
Country/Territory
Norway
Actors involved in implementing this Resolution:
IUCN Members
Norwegian Environment Agency ( Norway )
Ministry of Climate and Environment (Norway) ( Norway )
World Wide Fund for Nature - Norway ( Norway )
IUCN Secretariat
No
Other non-IUCN related organisations
Friends of the Earth Norway, Friends of the Earth Europe, Friends of the Earth International, Earthworks, Nature and Youth, Young Friends of the Earth Europe, Vevring og Førdefjorden Miljøgruppe, Sabima, Norwegian salmon rivers, Norwegian association of Hunters and Anglers, Future in our hands, The Norwegian Trekking Association, Union for Norwegian coastal fishermen, The Norwegian Fishermen’s Ass
II. Implementation
Activities carried out to implement this Resolution
Activity
Education/Communication/Raising awareness
Description and results/achievements of activities:
We have together with Friends of the Earth Norway been working to spread information of the harmful effects of dumping mining waste in the sea, and to persuade the Norwegian government to stop dumping mining waste in the fjords. This includes information work in social and traditional media, arranging seminars, and meeting with politicians.
Status
On-going
Activity
Policy influencing/advocacy
Description and results/achievements of activities:
To our knowledge there has not been done anything by the IUCN to implement the motion. We are not aware that the IUCN’s Director General has initiated discussions with the governments of the countries concerned, nor that anything has been done to develop stricter international regulations. We are not aware of any progress in the work to have the practice regulated through the general principles of the IMO and the London Convention and protocol. As far as we know, none of the other countries concerned have done anything to ban marine disposal of mine tailings for new mines, or to plan a stop to their ongoing marine disposal sites.
Status
_none
Activity
Policy influencing/advocacy
Description and results/achievements of activities:
We have through Friends of the Earth Europe, together with several Norwegian organizations, sent complaints to the EFTA surveillance agency that the Norwegian government is violating two directives; the water framework directive and the mining waste directive
Status
On-going
Describe any challenges encountered in implementing this Resolution and the measures taken
The main challenge is the strong opposition from companies and governments who still wants to dump mining waste in the sea, and the lack of resources to work against them.
Please report on the result /achievement of the actions taken
The EFTA Surveillance agency (ESA) has closed our case about the planned dumping in Førdefjord violating the water framework directive, because they can’t find any processing errors, and don’t see it as their role to “evaluate the merits of Norway’s decision, nor can it re-assess the evidence relied upon by it in the decision”. For the other cases, we haven’t gotten any final answer yet, and the complaint for violation of the mining waste directive is being processed now. We have asked ESA for a meeting to discuss this. Lobbying the Norwegian government has been partly successful, as the new Norwegian government has agreed on a platform where it is stated that they will assess whether the legislation on waste disposal in the mining industry is sufficient, while exploring the consequences of a ban on new sea deposits. They will not give any new discharge permits for sea deposits of mining waste for the next four years. However, we have not managed to get them to stop ongoing or planned sea deposits, and they are still lobbying to get submarine tailings accepted as best available technology internationally.
Identify and briefly describe what future actions/activities are planned for the implementation of this Resolution
Future action / activity
Education/Communication/Raising awareness
Description
Together with Friends of the Earth Norway we will spread information about the plastic content in the tailings. Plastic used to ignite explosives in the mines will end up as finely grinded microplastics in the tailings, creating serious problems for marine life.
Future action / activity
Policy influencing/advocacy
Description
Together with Friends of the Earth Norway and Earthworks we are trying to build an international coalition of organizations against dumping mining waste in the sea. The plan is to launch a campaign in February, targeting the financial backers of mining companies using this practice.
III. Additional Information
Upload document
Complaint WFD.pdf
(447.75 KB)
Report status
Published
Constituent type
IUCN Member