HEIDELBERG MATERIALS

“If the mining rights holder [Eden] makes a long-term contract with Heidelberg Group or another party which the landowner accepts specifically before 31 December 2025, concerning purchase of processed material from the mines, and informs the landowner about the contract . . . then the period of the present contract is extended until 31 December 2051.”

       – Contract between the IC and Eden, 2022, article no. 3.

 

The contract between the IC and Eden, signed 18 January 2022, is to a great extent based on Eden’s contract with Heidelberg Materials. Together, these two contracts revolve around the following: Heidelberg Materials will take minerals from the mines in Mt. Lambafell and Mt. Litla-Sandfell, transport them to Þorlákshöfn, and process them there in factory, and then transport them by ship to Germany.

 

Reaction of Þorlákshöfn Inhabitants and of Various Icelandic Government Bodies

This enterprise will completely change the appearance and nature of Þorlákshöfn, for the town will be transformed into a heavy industry town. Local protest against the enterprise has been prominent:

  1. Municipal representatives have spoken against the project

    a. Municipal representative Guðmundur Oddgeirsson wrote an article against the project[1]

    b. Municipal representatives Hrönn Guðmundsdóttir and Hrafnhildur Hlín Hjartardóttir have expressed their regret in the media for having voted for the project[2]

    c. Municipal representative Ása Berglind Hjálmarsdóttir has spoken against the project[3]

    d. Guðmundsdóttir, Hjálmarsdóttir, and Baldur Guðmundsson criticized the procedure of the Municipal Planning and Environment Board (skipulags- og umhverfisnefnd) concerning this project[4]

  2. At least one inhabitant has written in the media against the project[5]

  3. On 15 November 2022, at the introduction meeting of Heidelberg for the town inhabitants, the discussion and questions were mostly negative[6]

  4. Once the introduction meeting was over, Hjálmarsdóttir and Hjartardóttir started gathering signatures for a petition against the project—the petition was then put online[7] 

The following government bodies have criticized the project: [8] 

  1. The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (Vegagerðin)

  2. The Icelandic Transport Authority (Samgöngustofa)

  3. The Environment Agency of Iceland (Umhverfisstofnun) 

Furthermore, the NGO Landvernd (Landvernd – Icelandic Environmental Association) started a petition against the project[9] and urged municipality commissions to oppose mining operations.[10] 

The case has also been mentioned in the Icelandic Parliament: at least one PM criticized the project mid-November 2022.[11] 

Even though many town inhabitants dislike the enterprise, President Gavin Anthony believes the enterprise is good for them. In an interview with Vísir, 3 September 2022, he stated: “In the planned project, the mine will lead to job creation in the municipality, in addition to reduction of CO2-emissions in the construction industry, and thus induced good impact on the entire world.”[12] 

However, President Anthony emphasized clearly that the enterprise is not directly related to the IC: “It is important to note that the Icelandic Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is in no way a direct party to the plans concerning the mineral removal or the construction of a cement factory.”[13] The contract between the IC and Eden, signed 18 January 2022, is nevertheless based to a great extent on this enterprise[14] so the President’s words are at the most only technically true in a narrow sense. Without the contract between the IC and Eden it seems that the enterprise of Heiden Materials would be impossible.

 

What Kind of a Company Is Heidelberg Materials?

The contract of the IC is obviously connected to the enterprise of Heidelberg Materials in Þorlákshöfn. So, what kind of a company is it that the IC has decided to enter an indirect business relation with? 

On 1 February 2022, the EXCOM administrators introduced the company to church members in the following way:  

“Eden Mining has been working on a project in collaboration with HeidelbergCement Group, a German company that operates in 50 countries worldwide. Heidelberg is Europe’s largest supplier of aggregates and Europe’s second-largest cement producer.”[15] President Anthony praised the enterprise in the Vísir interview:  

In the planned project, the mine will lead to job creation in the municipality, in addition to reduction of CO2-emissions in the construction industry, and thus induced good impact on the entire world. According to the information that we have, the CO2-emission reduction which is earned by utilizing the material from the mine, compares to at least the emission of all the cars in Iceland.[16] 

If the EXCOM would be interested in learning about the global operation of Heidelberg Materials, the image of the company becomes immediately more complex. (Icelandic media finally started writing about Heidelberg in January 2023, after this chapter had been written and published on 13 January.)[17] In 2020, Heidelberg Materials received, for instance, the grade 7/26 by the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark[18] (an NGO which evaluates how the largest corporations in the world are doing when it comes to human rights issues),[19] and it seems it received 15.8/100 as a grade in 2019.[20] The company has been criticized by environmentalists, human rights activists, and investigative journalists for violations in at least Egypt,[21] Indonesia,[22] Palestine,[23] Togo,[24] and Western Sahara[25]—countries where people’s rights are vulnerable because of corrupt authorities. The author of the present document did not have time, unfortunately, to dig deep into these matters. The author is not trying to slander the name of the company unnecessarily with this chapter. The intention only to point out that the state of the world we live in is such that it is clear to everyone who wants to know that a giant corporation with a global reach is seldom a saintly association.

 

The Extent of the Business Connection between the IC and Heidelberg Materials

Two points can be mentioned about the business connection between the IC and Heidelberg Materials which the author thinks would have been appropriate to discuss within the Church before negotiations began in spring 2021. 

First, the IC is part of a denomination that claims to follow an elevated moral standard. It should therefore be important for such a denomination to only have business associations with partners who follow the same standard to a great or complete degree. Does Heidelberg Materials fit that bill? Have church members and the EXCOM considered that matter carefully at all? What kind of business operations, policies, and projects is the IC associating its name with by participating in the project of Heidelberg Materials? 

Second, the IC is a Church and not a company. The goal of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to proclaim the Gospel. The Church does do business and run companies only when that is necessary to reach its goal: The Church runs educational institutions to teach its message, it runs health institutions because it believes public health is part of the Gospel, and it runs bookstores to sell books with its message and teachings. The only reason why the Church owns Breiðabólstaður property to begin with is that the denomination operated an academy there for nearly half a century. It is a coincidence that the IC owns mines at all. 

How the mines were operated before the new contract was signed is one thing. That was a “normal” mineral operation which did not radically impact society. But the new contract entails something quite different and more extensive than normal mineral extraction. The enterprise involves a close business connection to a giant company, a transformation of a municipality, an impact on the national environmental and business policy. By participating in an enterprise of this magnitude, the IC is indirectly forming an opinion on all kinds of societal issues—but usually the Seventh-day Adventist Church tries to remain politically neutral since it believes its message is for all people, whatever political party they vote for. (Exceptions to this principle usually revolve around human rights issues.) The author believes that by making this new contract, the IC has gone off the deep end into a place where it simply does not belong. And even though the IC believes it belongs there, the EXCOM should have (according to article no. 18 of the bylaws of the IC) discussed all facets of the proposed enterprise with church members before starting negotiations and before signing the new contract in 2022. 

By signing the new contract with Eden, and through its indirect ties to Heidelberg Materials, the IC has inserted the name of Adventists into all kinds of complex societal issues without consulting church members. If the enterprise goes through and the contract is not terminated, the result will be that Icelanders will praise and blame the Church, depending on how they view the enterprise. And thus, the Church will be greatly responsible for the impact of the enterprise on Icelandic society, whatever that impact will be.


[1] Guðmundur Oddgeirsson, “Matvæli eða öskuhaugar” (Food or a Dump), Visir.is, 3 May 2022, https://www.visir.is/g/20222256245d/mat-vaeli-eda-osku-haugar.

[2] Hrönn Guðmundsdóttir and Hrafnhildur Hlín Hjartardóttir, “Að kjósa gegn eigin sannfæringu” (Voting against Your Own Conviction), Hafnarfrettir.is, 21 August 2022, http://hafnarfrettir.is/2022/08/21/ad-kjosa-gegn-eigin-sannfaeringu/.

[3] C.f. e.g. Jakob Bjarni and Óttar Kolbeinsson Proppé, “Óttast að breyta eigi Þorlákshöfn í ruslakistu fyrir iðnað sem enginn annar vill” (Fear that Þorlákshöfn Will Be Changed into an Industry Dumpster that Nobody Else Wants) Visir.is, 19 August 2022, https://www.visir.is/g/20222299481d.

[4] Ása Berglind Hjálmarsdóttir, Hrönn Guðmundsdóttir, and Vilhjálmur Baldur Guðmundsson, “Hvaða hagsmunir ráða för?” (Whose Interests Are Being Protected?), DFS.is, 12 January 2023, https://www.dfs.is/2023/01/09/hvada-hagsmunir-rada-for/.

[5] Ásta Ragnarsdóttir. “Þorpið mitt” (My Village), Hafnarfrettir.is, 19 August 2022, http://hafnarfrettir.is/2022/08/19/thorpid-mitt/; “Þorpið mitt” (My Village), Visir.is, 20 August 2022, https://www.visir.is/g/20222300459d.

[6] Sunna Ósk Logadóttir, „Litla þorpið sem á að bjarga þýska risanum” (The Little Village Which Is Supposed to Save the German Giant), Kjarninn.is, 19 November 2022, https://kjarninn.is/skyring/litla-thorpid-sem-a-ad-bjarga-thyska-risanum/; Jakob Bjarnar, “Mótmæla harðlega fyrirhugaðri risaverksmiðju í Þorlákshöfn” (Severe Protest against a Planned Giant Factory in Þorlákshöfn Town), Visir.is, 16 November 2022, https://www.visir.is/g/20222339738d/mot-maela-hard-lega-fyrir-hugadri-risa-verk-smidju-i-thor-laks-hofn.

[7] Hrafnhildur Hlín Hjartardóttir, “Enga jarðefnaverksmiðju í Þorlákshöfn“ (No Mineral Factory in Þorlákshöfn Town), https://is.petitions.net/enga_jarefnaverksmiu_i_orlakshofn; Ása Berglind Hjálmarsdóttir og Hrafnhildur Lilja Harðardóttir, “Áskorun að loknum íbúafundi Heidelberg Material” (Challenge after Resident Forum of Heidelberg Materials), Visir.is, 16 November 2022, https://www.visir.is/g/20222339723d/askorun-ad-loknum-ibuafundi-heidelberg-material.

[8] See, e.g., Sunna Ósk Logadóttir, “Að flytja Litla-Sandfell úr landi myndi auka losun, slíta vegum og fjölga slysum” (Exporting Mt. Litla-Sandfell Would Increase Emission, Wear Out Roads, and Increase Accidents), Kjarninn.is, 20 October 2022, https://kjarninn.is/frettir/ad-flytja-litla-sandfell-ur-landi-myndi-auka-losun-slita-vegum-og-fjolga-slysum/; Sunna Ósk Logadóttir, “Of lítið gert úr umhverfisáhrifum námu í Litla-Sandfelli” (Environmental Impact of a Mine in Mt. Litla-Sandfell Is Played Down), Kjarninn.is, 31 October 2022, https://kjarninn.is/frettir/of-litid-gert-ur-umhverfisahrifum-namu-i-litla-sandfelli/.

[9] Landvernd, “Áskorun: Höfnum námuvinnslu á Mýrdalssandi og í Þrengslunum” (Challenge: Let Us Reject Mining Industry in Mýrdalssandur and Þrengslin Pass), Landvernd.is, https://landvernd.is/askorun-namuvinnsla-i-myrdal-og-threngslum/.

[10] Jakob Bjarnar, “Landvernd skorar á sveitastjórnir að hafna námuvinnslu” (Landvernd – Icelandic Environment Association Urges Municipalities to Reject Mining Projects), Visir.is, 6 September 2022, https://www.visir.is/g/20222307740d/land-vernd-skorar-a-sveitar-stjornir-ad-hafna-namu-vinnslu.

[11] “It is good to live in Ölfus municipality but it is a bit difficult, I think, these last months when news appear about half-crazy projects on both ends of the South. The idea is to . . . remove an entire mount from the Þrengslin pass and transport it to Þorlákshöfn for shipping. The inhabitants don’t like this. There was a resident meeting earlier this week where people expressed their worries about the environmental impact from the mineral removal and from the impact on the harbor in Þorlákshöfn, because this company that intends to take Mt. Litla-Sandfell from Þrengslin pass and export it for cement-making, is going to take all the industrial lots at the harbor. It is going to screen off what we can call the downtown of Þorlákshöfn from the east of the South. A lot of 55 000 square meters, or, if I remember correctly, twelve lots that are going to be merged, are going to go under the factory for this one project, lots which could be used for a multi-faceted development which could make Þorlákshöfn a much more interesting place than one single shipping factory can do. But this also brings to the worries people have about enterprises with a negative environmental impact, because environmental laws are still so flawed that a negative environmental assessment is powerless, because the one who grants permission for enterprises like that—in this instance the local municipality—can disregard the environmental assessment and go ahead with the enterprise regardless. And in the case of Ölfus municipality, there is perhaps a worry that this may turn out to be the case.” Andrés Ingi Jónsson, FB-account “Andrés Ingi á Þingi,” FB post, 18 November 2022, https://fb.watch/gWas2WGIGT/.

[12] Jakob Bjarnar, “Ólga meðal aðventista vegna sölu á heilu fjalli” (Commotion among Adventists because of the Sale of an Entire Mountain), Visir.is, 3 September 2022, https://www.visir.is/g/20222306014d/olga-medal-adventista-vegna-solu-a-heilu-fjalli.

[13] Jakob Bjarnar, “Ólga meðal aðventista” (Commotion among Adventists).

[14] That is at least how the contract was presented to church members: “Almost a year ago, the Iceland Conference and Eden Mining began discussions concerning the possibility of a new venture concerning our mines. . . . Eden Mining has been working on a project in collaboration with HeidelbergCement Group . . . The project focuses on producing a more ecological cement product made possible by utilising the minerals found in the mines on the Church’s land. With this collaboration, the gravel becomes part of Heidelberg’s supply chain . . . The Conference has signed a new contract with Eden Mining that replaces all earlier contracts. . . . The terms have been negotiated on behalf of the Church by contract lawyers at Lex. This process has involved lawyers for the Conference, Eden Mining, and Heidelberg.” The EXCOM, Námufréttir – Mining news, 1 February 2022.

[15] The EXCOM, Námufréttir – Mining news, 1 February 2022.

[16] Jakob Bjarnar, “Ólga meðal aðventista” (Commotion among Adventists).

[17] Bjartmar Oddur Þeyr Alexandersson. “Heidelberg hefur þurft að greiða hundruð milljóna í sektir vegna mengunar” (Heidelberg has had to pay hundreds of millions ISK in fines for pollution), Heimildin.is, 29 January 2023, https://heimildin.is/grein/16589/hafa-thurft-ad-greida-hundrud-milljona-i-sektir-vegna-mengunar/.

[18] Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) are an NGO that evaluates how well the largest corporations in the world are doing when it comes to human rights, more specifically, to what extent they follow the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. “Methodology,” Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, World Benchmarking Alliance, https://www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/publication/chrb/methodology/.

[19] “HeidelbergCement“, Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, World Benchmarking Alliance, https://www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/publication/chrb/2020/companies/heidelbergcement/, cf. also a pdf-link at the bottom of the site, to download the file “Corporate Human Rights Benchmark 2020 Company Scoresheet” for Heidelberg Materials.

[20] “HeidelbergCement,” Business & Human Rights Centre, https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/companies/heidelbergcement/.

[21] Cf. “Tourah Cement lawsuit (re workers’ prison charge for illegal protest, Egypt),” Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/tourah-cement-lawsuit-re-workers-prison-charge-for-illegal-protest-egypt/; cf. also links to more related articles at the bottom of the site.

[22] Deutsche Welle, Ben Knight, “Indonesian farmer joins May 1 rally to protest German cement,” 1 May 2017, https://www.dw.com/en/indonesian-farmer-joins-may-1-rally-to-protest-german-cement/a-38653827; Der Spiegel, Nils Klawitter, “Indonesische Landarbeiter wehren sich gegen deutschen Zementgiganten,” 9 September 2020, https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/oecd-beschwerde-indonesische-landarbeiter-klagen-gegen-deutschen-zementgiganten-a-7b216329-2565-442e-bffe-155ce9f85506.

[23] Maha Abdallah and Lydia de Leeuw, “Violations Set in Stone: HeidelbergCement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” report published by Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), 4 February 2020, cf.  pdf-link, https://www.somo.nl/violations-set-in-stone/.

[24] Aktion Bleiberecht, “Demonstration am 15.02. für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Togo!,” 17 February 2020, https://www.aktionbleiberecht.de/2020/02/gegen-die-diktatur-und-die-umweltzerstoerung-u-a-durch-heidelbergcement-in-togo/.

[25] RobinWood, “Greenwashing von HeidelbergCement provoziert Proteste,” 5 May 2021, https://www.robinwood.de/pressemitteilungen/greenwashing-von-heidelbergcement-provoziert-proteste.