[ad_1]
Three global manufacturing companies – BMW Group, Tetra Pak and Schűco International KG – have responded to concerns about the use of aluminum made from bauxite mined in the Atewa forest.
Their positions were communicated in letters to the concerned citizens of the Atewa Landscape (CCAL), the popular movement which campaigns against the exploitation of bauxite in the Atewa Forest.
The three companies are all members of the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative (ASI) established to certify members and their products in the bauxite-aluminum supply chain that meet its sustainability standards.
Although the companies recognize the Ghanaian government’s willingness to develop the aluminum sector for economic development and poverty reduction, they have firmly stated that their sustainability commitments will not be compromised. All three companies highlighted their endorsement of ASI’s social and environmental standards and said they also want their suppliers to meet those same standards.
The BMW Group, ASI founding member, said: “Bauxite from the Atewa Forest region must comply with the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UNFCCC Paris Agreement on Climate Change and contributions National Volunteers of Ghana to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. If this is not the case, the BMW Group will not accept aluminum in its supply chains which comes from bauxite from the Atewa forest ”.
Tetra Pak stated that “the supply of aluminum produced with bauxite mined in the Atewa Range Forest Reserve in Kyebi in eastern Ghana presents a totally unacceptable level of risk to Tetra Pak… Regardless of the level of environmental standards applied , any form of mining at the site will have an inevitable destructive impact on the values inherent in such a natural habitat ”.
Schűco stated that it “would therefore oblige our aluminum suppliers not to supply aluminum derived from bauxite mined in the forest reserve of the Atewa range, and we intend to encourage other users of aluminum to join us in this commitment ”.
Activists advocating for the protection of Atewa Forest have repeatedly stated that mining for bauxite in Atewa Forest would not meet ASI’s requirements. Bauxite mining at Atewa would threaten species with global extinction, undermining the Convention on Biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals which both set clear targets to stop extinctions.
If Atewa’s bauxite is part of Ghana’s aluminum supply, the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) risks categorically rejecting all of Ghana’s bauxite and aluminum by responsible aluminum users like these. .
Mr. Oteng Adjei, President of CCAL, said, “Saving the Atewa Forest from mining should be an intergenerational priority, and we are happy and grateful that the big companies in the aluminum value chain understand the importance of a healthy forest and the environmental services it provides. We appreciate their commitment to support local and international efforts to protect the Atewa Forest from the exploitation of bauxite which is sure to destroy the forest, its water services and biodiversity.
Letters from companies regarding bauxite from Atewa follow soon after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) passed a resolution demanding global action to save Atewa from bauxite mining, this which constitutes another strong call to abandon the projects of exploitation of the Atewa Forest bauxite.
Source link
