Source: Greenpeace
Greenpeace today delivered a petition signed by over 26,000 people urging Prime Minister Chris Luxon to not sign a minerals deal with the USA.
Greenpeace illustrated the public opposition to the deal with a depiction of Luxon and Trump riding a US branded missile.
“We’re here today to highlight the concerns of more than 26,000 people that Luxon intends to prioritise foreign interests over the environment of Aotearoa,” says Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner Juressa Lee.
Prime Minister Luxon is expected to sign a deal soon to provide the USA priority access to minerals they regard as ‘critical’. Many of the minerals listed by the USA as critical have military applications, including vanadium, which is found off the coast of Taranaki.
“The people of Aotearoa don’t want mining companies to destroy our precious ecosystems, locking us into the US military supply chain,” says Lee. “The response to the petition has been huge and shows us the issue has really touched a nerve.”
Greenpeace launched its petition in February when it was revealed the Government was in secretive talks with the USA.
“People are understandably very concerned that the Government is negotiating a deal that will bind us to the US industrial-military complex,” says Lee. “We don’t want Aotearoa to supply Trump’s war minerals. Most people would like Luxon to show the integrity and courage required to stand up against a deal that compromises our values.”
Yet the Government is pushing ahead with its pro-mining and pro-USA agenda. Last week its controversial bill opening up conservation areas to commercial interests passed its first reading in Parliament. And on Thursday, the Government hosted a high-level delegation from the USA alongside New Zealand mining industry executives and lobbyists in his Beehive office.
“We need to move away from extractive industries that destroy the whenua and moana,” says Lee. “Our future generations depend on us to build a sustainable, circular economy that values people and Papatūānuku.”
Lee adds that the rush for minerals undermines the very possibility of a just and green energy transition.
“Opening new mines for a green energy transition is a false solution,” says Lee. “Research shows minerals can be administered for a clean renewable energy transformation in a way that protects ecosystems from terrestrial or deep sea mining of so-called ‘critical’ minerals. Governments need to prioritise mineral use for essential energy transition purposes.”
“Our movement stopped seabed mining in its tracks – we can stop this deal too,” says Lee.
Greenpeace invited the Prime Minister to accept the petition but he declined. Labour Party spokesperson for Energy and Resources Megan Woods accepted the petition to present to Parliament. MPs from the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori were also present.
The petition: Tell Luxon: No minerals deal with Trump
Notes
- Beyond Extraction: Pathways for a 1.5°C-aligned Energy Transition with Less Minerals was commissioned by Greenpeace International, and authored by academics at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in Australia.
- In March Greenpeace made headlines by redecorating the Prime Minister’s electorate office with US branding and a sign saying ‘TRUMP WAR MINERALS HQ’.