Action Alerts Archive: Karahnjukar project, Iceland
Stop destruction of unique Icelandic ecosystem
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| Colors by Lindarlakur creek, The Icelandic
Highlands © Johan Isberg 2002 |
The Icelandic Government and Alcoa, the world's largest aluminum company, plan to build a large dam and aluminum smelter project in Iceland. If built, the Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project will have massive impacts on Iceland's Eastern Highlands, Europe's second-largest remaining wilderness area. Check the website of the Iceland Nature Conservation Association (INCA), www.inca.is, for more information about this project.
INCA, International Rivers Network, Friends of the Earth/International, the CEE Bankwatch Network and other groups call on Iceland's Government and Alcoa not to go ahead with the Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project, but to look for other options for Iceland's economic development that respect the country's natural heritage.
Please send the following message to the Prime Minister of Iceland and the Chairman of Alcoa in support of this appeal: postur@for.stjr.is, Contact.Alcoa.Iceland@alcoa.com
Send also a cc. to Iceland's National Power Company, European Investment Bank and Nordic Investment Bank: landsvirkjun@lv.is, info@eib.org, info@nib.int
Thank you for your support,
Sample letter
Mr. Prime Minister
David Oddsson
Reykjavik
Iceland
postur@for.stjr.is
Mr. Alain J.P. Belda
Chairman and CEO
Alcoa Inc. New York,
USA
Contact.Alcoa.Iceland@alcoa.com
Subject: Karahnjukar Project
Dear Mr Prime Minister, Dear Mr Belda,
I have learnt with regret that Iceland's National Power Company and Alcoa intend to build a large dam and aluminum smelter project in and near Iceland's Eastern Highlands. The Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project would include a number of dams, reservoirs, river diversions, channels and roads. It would severely impact the habitats of fish, seals, reindeer, the pinkfooted goose other bird species, would irreparably damage a rare oasis of highland vegetation, and would destroy unique geological formations and landscapes. The project's Environmental Impact Assessment was rejected by Iceland's National Planning Agency, a decision that was later overruled by the Minister for Environment.
I understand that the economic benefits of the Kárahnjúkar project are questionable, and that the project has divided Iceland's society. People who have expressed their concerns have been citicized by highest Government officials for supposedly "sabotaging" Iceland's national interest.
I further understand that Alcoa is closing aluminum smelters in other parts of the world, and plans to build the Iceland smelter as part of a cost-saving strategy. Sacrificing a unique wilderness area for producing aluminum more cheaply would seriously tarnish Alcoa's corporate reputation and Iceland's green image.
While I respect Iceland's needs for economic development, I urge you not to go ahead with the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project and the aluminum smelter. I hope that an open public debate in Iceland could identify alternatives for the nation's economic development that would safeguard the country's natural heritage, including promoting the tourism potential of the Eastern Highlands.
I ask Iceland's National Power Company and the financial institutions that have been identified as potential funders of the Kárahnjúkar project to take note of this appeal.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Links
Friends
of the Earth International Iceland
Nature Conservation Association International
River Networks