Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade

Mining and Ship Breaking

To study the links between the increased metabolism of the economy and environmental damage, EJOLT looks at mining conflicts (precious metals & bulk materials) and waste disposal conflicts (ship breaking, e-waste exports and waste incineration). Local communities occupying ‘priceless sites’ oppose mining in ecologically sensitive areas (such as Intag, Ecuador) or technological and other corporate practices. We shall elaborate on risk assessment and undertake work to publicize violations of the Basel Treaty on the export of toxic waste (e.g. European ships dismantled in Alang and Sosiya, India). We will conduct a legal analysis of liability regimes in national, international and European laws. Sharing of such landmark cases on mining and ship-breaking conflicts worldwide will help us to elaborate online training materials about debates on health risks and resource destruction, and strategies of legal redress and public consultation in ways that take local activist knowledge into account.