The state of chaos worsens - 23 years before approval
If the permit processes are not improved, Sweden will miss the climate goals, warn heavy companies, experts and lawyers. "If nothing is done, I see a fairly high risk that Sweden will not be able to do it," says Cementas Karin Comstedt Webb.
The problems with environmental conditions are reminiscent of several places.Sweden has recently plunged into the Fraser Institute's international ranking of attractive mining countries, from place 8 in 2016 to place 36 last year.Furthermore, a survey from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise shows that resilient environmental permits cost society around SEK 50 billion in three years.
During a seminar at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, entrepreneurs, lawyers, politicians and opinion leaders agreed in principle on two things: That Sweden should be a leader in industrial climate change.But also that the environmental permit processes must be improved along the way.However, not everyone agrees on the extent of the problem and how it should be addressed.
Among the most influential critics of the environmental processes is Maria Sunér, CEO of the industry organization Svemin, which represents heavy players in the Swedish mining industry.
- The conditions for today's environmental processes consist of a complicated system of detailed legislation from both Swedish laws and EU directives.It is the system that makes company establishments go into lockdown, she says.
Can take 23 years
Among other things, Maria Sunér sees major problems with the application for a permit being approved being delayed.A quick calculation shows that it can take 22-23 years before a mining company can put the shovel in the ground.And then it's a best case scenario.The projects also risk being delayed by a consultation requirement in environmental legislation, which allows several different authorities to comment on the project and demand answers and additions from the company.The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that the Land and Environment Court does not set clear time limits for how long the authorities may request these supplements.
- Of course, the courts must evaluate whether the companies do a solid job, but it is difficult to understand that a permit constantly requires new additions and investigations when the companies hire Sweden's best lawyers and environmental experts to produce a good basis, she says.
A current example is the mining company LKAB's, which in October last year had its application to mine iron ore in Kiruna rejected by the Land and Environment Court.An application that the company worked on for seven years.
- The court decided to reject the application because it made a different assessment of how it had called for consultation for special stakeholders.You can have different assessments about a lot of things, but to reject without trying the question in substance and say that you have to start over lacks proportions.
8,000 pages long application
It is particularly remarkable that it took the court three years to make these decisions, says Niklas Johansson at LKAB.
- This is a time where we have listened and sent in the requested supplements, which ended in an 8,000-page application, he says.
The permit processes do not only affect the mining industry.Another notable case is the concrete manufacturer Cementa, which last summer had its application for limestone mining in Slite on Gotland rejected by the Supreme Land and Environmental Court.After a lengthy discussion on, among other things, the hydrological groundwater models, the court could not approve the plan developed by Cementa's experts and consultants.
- It is clear that tough framework conditions with high environmental performance must be set.But there must be trust between authorities and companies to solve these detailed issues and problems along the way.Instead of talking about how we have chosen to put a box on the map, we need to talk about the actual scientific environmental issues.This is how we can make safe and correct assessments, says Karin Comstedt Webb, Head of Environmental Social and Governance at the Heidelberg Group, which owns Cementa.
The requirement: Clarify the roles
The company representatives demand a holistic view of how land use and natural values affect society as a whole.In order to create greater predictability in the process, the roles of the authorities should be clarified so that they do not spread too much in relation to the national climate goals.Another solution is to limit the time for court proceedings so that the waiting time does not risk major delays in company establishments.
- Sweden must find a way to move forward, it is necessary to get the industrial investments required for climate change, says Niklas Johansson.
- A wave of cases will come in the future and if nothing is done, I see a fairly large risk that Sweden will not be able to do it, adds Karin Comstedt Webb.
The idea of changing today's environmental assessment processes is opposed by Jonas Ebbesson, professor of environmental law at Stockholm University.He believes that the problem needs to be seen in a larger context.
- The permit processes around Cementa and LKAB are in no way representative of the Swedish environmental processes.Therefore, no major conclusions can be drawn no matter how much we want to change and simplify.The other day I spoke to a judge in the Land and Environment Court who rejected only a handful of cases of all applications received in 20 years.
Makes absolute demands
However, legal colleague Joel Mårtensson, partner at Mannheimer Swartling Advokatbyrå, is of a different opinion.
- It is admittedly not common for applications to be rejected, but the problems that have been raised around the application processes are actually quite representative.These are questions we can learn from in order to develop the legislation and the permit review system.The Environmental Code (the core of environmental legislation, editor's note) has many merits, but the problem is that it is applied in a way that sets absolute requirements without considering whether it is reasonable or not, he says.
Present at the seminar were, among others, the former government party colleagues S and MP.After hearing the criticism, it is clear that they have widely differing views on where the problem lies.
- It is worrying that there are far too long and unpredictable permit processes in Sweden.There, the government must take a step forward.But at the same time, these are not simple issues to solve and therefore we have appointed two investigations that examine how we can have a more efficient review process, says Mattias Jonsson, Member of Parliament and member of the Business Committee for the Social Democrats.
"There is more to do"
Former Minister of the Environment Karolina Skog (MP), welcomes inquiries as long as they focus on improvements to existing environmental legislation, which she considers solid.
- The Environmental Code is a good law.The requirement for consultation means that different interests can be weighed against each other.But I admit that there is more to do here.It is important that the authorities get into the process early and actively work to sort out what is required, what we are to deliver and how we get there, she says.
At the same time, Karolina Skog wants to clearly mark against investigations that lead to major changes in the processes where, in principle, environmental permits are promised to the "big bullies".
- Today I see a very big difference in attitude between established and new companies applying for a permit.For example, Northvolt has managed to obtain environmental permits in an impressive way without expecting priority or splicing with the environmental processes, she says.
Politicians must decide
Towards the end of the seminar, Peter Wennblad, lead writer at SvD, says that the industry has raised important points at the seminar.On the other hand, politicians' answers leave much to be desired.
- Sweden is facing the biggest societal transformation ever.I do not think the government understands what incredibly painful conflicts of interest exist to achieve this.This is not a question you can delegate to authorities and courts.The Environmental Code is based on a, to use a nasty word, notion that there should be consultation where all conflicts between all actors can be resolved.But they can not.Politicians must decisively decide at what price we pay for climate change in the form of lower environmental requirements, economic costs, weaker rights protection and greater risks, he says.
He is supported by Frida Wallnor, lead writer at DI.
- It all comes down to whether Sweden is ready to make many uncomfortable decisions.The alternative is to scrap the climate goals.I am also distressed to hear Karolina Skog highlight Northvolt as a role model in her application process and thus suggest that LKAB, which has spent seven years on its application, would be less serious in its application.The slow processes affect Sweden's reputation abroad and determine whether we will be seen as an attractive investment country in the future or not.
https://www.tn.se/hallbarhet/tillstandskaoset-forvarras-23-ar-innan-godkannande/
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