Thank You, Mr. Chairman,
We support the statement made yesterday by the Delegation of the
European Union
I would like to share some examples with you on how we have worked
and work with mining and sustainable development in Sweden. -
Mainly within the area of Question 1.
Sweden is a country with mining traditions. We mine iron ore and
sulphidic ore containing copper, zink, lead, silver and gold. Globally
Sweden is a small mining country but one of the biggest mining
countries in the European Union and we mine a couple of world-class
deposits in the northernmost part of Sweden.
We have a mining and metallurgy cluster in Sweden where the
equipment industry for example Atlas Copco and Sandvik has grown
up in close cooperation with demanding customers from the mining
and steel industries.
The Swedish metallurgy and mining cluster work together with the
Government to be at the forefront of international developments in
strategically selected areas. Cutting edge technology products with
high added value and sustainable resource use characterize the whole
value chain from natural resources to customer. This provides for a
strong international competitiveness and contributes to prosperity and
growth in our country.
We want to work together and share lessons learnt with other
countries in creating sustainable development.
Sweden have recently started a development programme called
MeetingPointMining where the Geological Survey of Sweden and
other authorities, Industry and Academy work together with their
counterparts in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. We hope that
the cooperation will make a real difference for these countries
possessing rich mineral resources in their efforts to build capacity to
achieve fair and sustainable development.
We have also experience of moving cities by mining causes.
The state owned company LKAB is mining two big under-ground ironore
deposits in Kiruna and Malmberget way up in the north of Sweden.
The mining cause cracks in the ground and the cracks will develop and
evolve toward the built areas. The cracks are caused by the mining
method itself and the slant of the ore body.
The ambition is to develop unique ecological urban settlements in
continuous development and in line with present and future demands
for high-tech model cities.
Through active participation of the Swedish government, the mining
company, the municipalities and through public meetings, exhibitions,
surveys and interactive communication an active dialogue is held
between the inhabitants of these cities and the various stakeholders
involved in the relocation.
We hope that the city moving in Kiruna and Malmberget could be
used as a model for other cities in the world also when future
challenges such as the climate change, rising sea levels or land erosion
may force other cities to move to safer ground.
Thank You!
