NEWS
Friends of the Earth Croatia Seeks Resignation of Minister of Environment
June 26, 2018
Zelena
akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia held a creative performance last week
in front of the Croatian Government building marking the 1-year anniversary of
the mandate of the Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy, Tomislav
Ćorić. On this occasion, FoE Croatia, with the support of the Croatian
environmental network Green Forum, presented the "Golden stump" to
the Minister, which is a prestigious "award" for contributing to the
devastation of the environment.
At the very end of the performance, activists called on the Prime Minister
Andrej Plenković to relieve Minister Ćorić of his duties based on the
"award".
The "Golden stump" is awarded for the first time this year, and the first winner, according to FoE Croatia and Green Forum, did not have any competition. Namely, the “damage assessment study of the negative environmental impacts” of Minister Ćorić has unambiguously shown that he has made a number of bad decisions in the past year. This was the basis for giving him this "award". The current minister has supported some extremely damaging projects for the past year, while completely neglecting the protection of the environment, which is the purpose of the Ministry for Environmental Protection and Energy.
“Today we have awarded the first
"Golden stump", and this exceptional "award" goes into the
hands of a man whose contribution to this field is truly unbeatable. The "award" was designed by
activists of FoE Croatia, and it symbolises environmental devastation and
environmentally damaging decisions,” explained Željka Leljak Gracin, the
president of FoE Croatia.
During the performance i.e. award ceremony, only some of the projects that
testify to the systemic environmental indifference and the chronic deficit of a
long-term vision for environmental protection and energy sustainability are
mentioned.
For example, the
LNG terminal on Krk Island is being imposed despite the opposition of the local
community and local authorities, while adopting a special Law to speed up the
procedure. Then, a 40-year-old project for the construction of the Kosinj hydro
power plant has been revived. It foresees the submergence of the towns Gornji
Kosinj and Mlakva and displacement of the population.
Likewise, there are plans to extend the lifetime of a 50-year-old coal power
plant ‘Plomin 1’ for additional 15 to 20 years without any environmental impact
study. Furthermore, a new decision on the environmental acceptability of the
condoisation of Srđ in Dubrovnik was adopted - without a new study, without
public debate, without taking professional arguments into account, and all
contrary to several court decisions.
In addition, new concessions for oil and gas exploitation in Slavonia are being planned. This is connected to the low-carbon and climate change adaptation strategies that have disappeared from the Government’s agenda.
“We should not forget the Ministry’s failure in taking responsibility for the
recent ecological catastrophe in Slavonski Brod, when 100 000 people were left
without drinking water, and generally ignoring the burning issue of air
pollution in the city,” said Leljak Gracin, and added: “We must also mention a
catastrophic waste management policy, which escalated by a recent fire in CIOS
plant.”
Related content:
Photo gallery with the press-release (in Croatian)
Performance in front of Croatian Government building
FoE Croatia’s anti-LNG campaign continues despite the adoption of a special law (June 15, 2018)
Legal fight to save the Adriatic (May 23, 2018)
Legal action to silence our member (March 9, 2018)