International Environmental Justice
Green Legal Helpdesk
In cooperation with Fridays for Future Germany, we are currently developing the Green Legal Helpdesk, an initiative to combat environmental destruction and human rights violations perpetrated by German actors abroad. The Helpdesk supports affected communities and activists in holding those responsible for global environmental destruction accountable and makes Germany’s involvement visible. The aim is to increase the means of resistance of affected rights holders and raise awareness of the global impact of German economic activities. This work will combine legal interventions with high-profile campaigns to put pressure on political decision-makers and companies. Together with our partners and stakeholders, we will champion innovative, cross-border strategies that promote environmental justice and ensure genuinely sustainable development.
The Helpdesk is intended to be a first point of contact for activists, lawyers and NGOs who want to campaign against environmental destruction in their home countries and hold German actors to account, including through legal means.
Lithium mine in Jadar/Serbia: Application as ‘strategic project’ contested by the Green Legal Helpdesk and Serbian activists
The ‘green transformation’ must not come at the expense of the environment and human rights. That is why we are supporting Serbian civil society in its fight against lithium mining in Serbia.
In a first pilot case, the Green Legal Helpdesk, together with the Serbian campaign network ‘Mars sa Drine’, has lodged an appeal with the EU Commission against the classification of the lithium mine in Jadar/Serbia as a ‘strategic project’ under the European Critical Raw Materials Act. With its planned lithium and boron extraction, the project of the international mining group Rio Tinto jeopardises important drinking water resources and threatens to destroy biodiversity and the livelihoods of people in the region. The EU and the German automotive industry in particular are trying to secure access to the highly sought-after raw material. Our statement submitted on 28 November 2024 shows that the project does not meet the requirements of the Raw Materials Regulation and calls on the Commission to reject the application for recognition as a ‘strategic project’ under Article 6-7 CRMA. This intervention emphasises the need for responsible raw material extraction that respects environmental and human rights. The ‘green transformation’ in the EU should solve environmental crises, not fuel new ones.