News

Following the decision of the Supreme Court: Politics owns the issue of the cement crisis

  • 2021-08-25
  • 18:26
  • News

The trial is over for this time – without the acute cement crisis being resolved.
– It ‘s now clear that it is politics that owns the issue, says Maria Sunér, CEO of Svemin.

It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court chooses not to take up the case of Cementa’s appeal of the Land and Environment Court of Appeal’s decision to reject the application for continued and expanded extraction and water activities at Slite, according to Svemin – the Swedish Association of Mines, Mineral and Metal Producers.

– The appeal contained a number of questions of principle which now unfortunately will not be answered, says Maria Sunér.

The consequence will be that we will not see any different application and attitude from the authorities anytime soon.

– It is therefore now even more important that the legislation is reviewed urgently. We cannot continue to have a permit process that becomes an obstacle to the climate transition and industrial development.

The 8 months proposed as a respite by the government’s decision have not yet been implemented, and even if the amendments to the law had been in place, they would not be enough to obtain a new permit for Cementa during that time. Nor to find import streams that meet Sweden’s high quality and environmental requirements. Not to mention the negative climate effects of the long transports that will probably be needed to transport the cement to Sweden.

Cementa’s plant in Slite would be the world’s first climate-neutral cement factory.
– The climate irony in this situation is depressing, says Maria Sunér.


Facts

The appeal, which was rejected by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, concerned the ruling given by the Land and Environment Court of Appeal on 6 July when it rejected Cementa’s application for an extended limestone quarry in Slite from 1 November.

Read previous statements by Svemin 

“Kafka-like permit processes – a stop block for Sweden” Aug. 9
“Short-term deadline does not change the system error with ineffective permit examinations” Aug. 10

Cementa’s newsroom (Swe.)

Cementa news