While the wetland law is still blocked in Congress and environmental organizations are protesting its timely treatment in different parts of the country, the mining industry has come out to establish its position on this issue. generates strong concern among the provincial administrations and among the entrepreneurs of the activity, which predict millionaire losses in potential investments.
The Wetlands Bill is a proposal for regulate and preserve the wetlands of the country, which cover about 20% of the national territory. Since 2013, several bills have been presented by different political forces, but all have lost parliamentary status.
Last week there was a new postponement in the treatment of the matter, due to a request from several governors who asked to be heard in the context of the debate. Also in a talk organized by ClarioneWeeks ago, the governor of Catamarca, Rul Jalil, said in this regard that “You can’t legislate on ignorance.”
For this reason, the Argentine Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (CAEM) has decided to go out and express its “stronger rejection of the lack of concerted federalism in the debate on legislative projects for the protection of wetlands and the need for the participation of the affected productive sectors, ”he said in a statement.
“We reject any proposal for a regulation that through ignorance condemns production and a decent quality of life in areas far from the large production centers of our country where mining takes place, and that goes against the federal spirit of our national constitution”, continues the note.
According to the vision of the mining entrepreneurs,“If approved, the projects would leave the country without a mining industry. “It does not only mean stopping new investments, but also jeopardizing the work of the deposits that are already operational”, said the body, which believes that the autonomy of the provinces, (in terms of the administration of their natural resources and environmental regulation ) is violated in many of the projects under discussion in Congress.
On the other hand, the environmentalist Greenpeace assures that “wetlands have an enormous biological, social, cultural and economic value. They are the keys to the functioning of nature as a whole. 21.5% of our country is covered by a great diversity of wetlands, which reaches all the Argentine provinces and it is estimated that 40% of the world’s biodiversity lives or reproduces in them “, said the organization in a statement. .
According to CAEM, in the middle there is the economic equation: “mining is the fifth largest national export complex and contributes over $ 107,000,000,000 to the state annually “, To explain. And it ensures that Argentina can consolidate itself as one of the world’s leading mining producers. “Taking the most advanced mining projects, there is the potential to achieve annual exports of $ 12 trillion (more than triple the current) and investments of $ 20 trillion.”
Finally, the Chamber pointed out that “all the mining projects in progress have been subject to the approval of the related environmental impact assessments (Law 24585). The current legislation does not allow companies that are harmful to the environment, regardless of where they are installed” .
The controversy over the debate The Wetlands Act has an important economic struggle behind it. Especially in these times, when what is most promoted is the exploitation of lithium, as an input for electromobility. It happens that part of the mining area is included in the wetland. While all of this is happening, lithium is hitting a record-breaking international price 70 thousand dollars a ton.
Source: Clarin
