Question 14175 — overseas

Summary

Ms. Bénédicte Taurine questions the Minister of State, Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, on the gold mine project in Guyana. At the end of 2017, his two colleagues Ms. Mathilde Panot and Mr. Adrien Quatennens questioned Mr. Nicolas Hulot about this project and in particular about the setbacks for the environment, the rights of Guyanese citizens and the non-compliance with the Paris agreements. After several months, the ministry sent an identical response to both questions affirming the launch of a public debate in spring 2018 which will “objectivize the economic results of the project and its social and environmental impacts”. We are now in the fall of 2018 and the new elements provided by the NGO WWF and the Guyanese associations confirm the questions of the two rebellious deputies. At the environmental level, the project carried out by the company provides for a total deforestation of 1,513 hectares including deforestation of primary forests, with high ecological value, of 575 hectares, on a site where more than 2,000 plant and animal species, including 127 protected, have been inventoried. According to the operator, to extract the gold, 57,000 tonnes of explosives, 46,500 tonnes of cyanide and 195 million liters of fuel will be necessary for the 12-year lifespan of the project. At the economic level, this project is nonsense where no less than 420 million euros of public money would be swallowed up by Russian and Canadian multinationals while the extreme volatility of the gold price risks at any time calling into question the profitability of extraction, thereby reducing tax revenue. At the democratic and social level, this project faces a broad front of opposition ranging from the UTG to the indigenous organizations of Guyana. The scale of the mobilization has also led the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights to request a moratorium on this subject. Finally, a recent Ifop survey commissioned by WWF shows that 75% of Guyanese believe that this project presents a significant risk for the environment. Alternatives exist to protect the environment and develop Guyana's economy. Each year, 20,000 tourists visit Guyana, a number which could reach 60,000 tourists in 2024 according to the regional tourism development plan for Guyana. According to WWF, this model would create six times more direct jobs than the Montagne d'or project with four times less public subsidies. Furthermore, when it comes to gold, the first gold mine in France is urban: it is hidden in mobile phones. According to the NGO Friends of the Earth, there would now be more gold in a ton of old phones portable than in a ton of an exploited gold deposit. Currently, out of the 20 kg of electrical and electronic waste generated each year by a French person, barely 7 kg are collected, decontaminated and recycled by approved structures. The recycling industry is a sustainable alternative capable of relaunching the French productive system. These various elements confirm the harmfulness of the gold mine project in Guyana, Once the assessment of this project has been objectively completed, it is up to the Government to cancel it. She would therefore like to know his intentions on this issue.

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