Question 35657 — mines and quarries

Summary

Mr. Jean-Luc Mélenchon alerts the Minister of Ecological Transition to the “Montagne d'or” project, a giant mine in the heart of the French Amazon. This project has been hotly contested since its inception by part of the Guyanese population and environmental organizations. Contrary to the ecological emergency, it provides for a total deforestation of 1,513 hectares, a third of which is primary forest. More than 2,000 plant and animal species are threatened through the use of thousands of tons of explosives and cyanide and millions of liters of fuel. In 2019, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron considered that it was, “as it stands, not compatible with France’s ecological ambitions”. Then Prime Minister Édouard Philippe confirmed that the State would not give the green light, considering it “incompatible with environmental protection requirements”. The Convention Citizen for the Climate is calling for a moratorium on the mining industry in Guyana. To carry out this project, the Montagne d’or company needed to extend its two mining concessions. She made a request to the Ministry of the Economy. Rather than offering a frank refusal, the State failed to respond within the deadline. Two implicit decisions refusing to extend the concessions were born on January 21, 2019. These were contested by the company. On Thursday, December 24, 2020, the region's administrative court ordered the State “to extend” the mining concessions. The project is therefore still relevant. In its two judgments, the region's administrative court notes that the State "produces no supporting documents", the "lack of serious challenge from the minister" and "the absence of criticism". The deputy asks to kindly justify the absence of a representative of the State at the hearing of the administrative court on December 3, 2020. The MP questions this double game on the part of the Government. It appears to be in total contradiction with the stated ambitions of preserving biodiversity and playing a leading role in the run-up to COP15 which is to be held in China in May 2021. Consequently, he would like to know if the Government intends to clarify its position and keep our word by definitively putting an end to this disastrous project.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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