Heidelberg Materials in Togo

Despite all efforts to build a pure image, stand for HeidelbergMaterials always in the first place Profit and growthEven if deals with dictators are made. ‘HeidelbergCement and its subsidiaries support the Togolese government and contribute to Poverty and environmental crises at", so the 2005 fled Togolese Pierre K. in conversation with the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung at a protest action of the group Roots in concrete in summer 2020. []1]

Already in February 2020, about 200 people in Heidelberg followed the call of the organization Action on the right to stay Freiburg [2Take to the streets in the face of the upcoming elections in Togo for democracy and justice. HeidelbergMaterials in particular was criticised as a major investor. In the West African country since 1967 a Autocratic government in power, headed since 2005 by Faure Gnassingbé, son of the previous ruler Gnassingbé Eyadéme. The allegations of a bloody seizure of power in contempt of the constitution, as well as massive electoral fraud [...]3, 4Hand in hand with reports from human rights organizations Human rights violationshuman trafficking (especially of children)5], torture and ill-treatment of detainees, massive police violence and arbitrariness, and restrictions on freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. []6]

HeidelbergMaterials has been present in Togo since 1984 and operates three companies in the country: Cimtogo (production and distribution of cement), Granutogo (gneis quarry) and Scantogo (clinker production and distribution). []7] Loud action Right to stay The group has been in contact with the ruling Gnassingbé family for more than 35 years and Support provided As one of the largest foreign investors Predominant dictatorial structures. [8] At the same time, he accepts direct and indirect consequences of the cement industry in Togo, which Dogbevi Koffi (2009) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison covers in his dissertation "Léxploitation industrielle face aux imperatifs environnementaux au Togo: cas des cimenteries." And then there's the collision between them. Destruction of vegetation what in Disappearance of native species On the other hand, with the Destruction of archaeological, cultural and historical heritage, for example, sacred ponds and forests, ritual sites and traditional tombs. []9](12)

Thus, for example, the Tabligbo quarry stands with Air, water and soil pollution [10](S13)as well as with Noise and traffic emissions in connection. The soil and its structure are affected, among other things, by machine traffic and explosions, which accelerates erosion processes. The smoke, gas and dust of machines and vehicles contain pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and carbon dioxide (CO2), but also heavy metals such as zinc and lead. These pollute air and water and are absorbed by animals and humans, which can cause damage to health. [11] (S16 ff) In addition, the use of large geographical areas is essential for the lime-mining infrastructure. This leads, among other things, to Shortage of farmland and to Displacement and relocation of the population, which often has to take place at your own expense. [12] (S12)

precarious conditions suspended. HeidelbergCement has a responsibility in several respects towards the environment, towards the people of Togo and towards our future. With all the consequences of lime mining, HeidelbergCement wants to be number one in cement production in West Africa.
HeidelbergCement and the Gnassingbé dictatorship talk about creating jobs. In agriculture, however, jobs and Self-sufficiency destroyed. We know that HeidelbergCement at Scantogo Cheap temporary workers by subcontractors [...] . Working hours are not respected, overtime and minimum wage of 35,000 CFA (53) €) are often Not paid. Workers who protest are laid off. Many are not to the National Social Security Funds Connected, most have No employment contract. So much for a quick look at HeidelbergCement., according to the Diaspora Togolaise Allemagne (DTA) in their speech of 15 February. []13]

The real problem sees Dogbevi (2009), however, within the legal and institutional framework of the regulations in Togo on the environment in general, as well as on the mining sector in particular. Laws, which usually come without implementing provisions, result in mere declarations of intent, their non-compliance is free of consequences. In addition, Lack of functioning control institutions for the enforcement of the envisaged sparse penalties. [14](S42ff)

Without an intact environmental management system that provides for clear and strict regulations that are consistently controlled, the statement of a company like HeidelbergMaterials to adhere to applicable standards is therefore worthless.
The majority of people in Togo do not benefit from this. In Togo lacks democracy, justice and respect for human rights. The people of Togo need schools, functioning health care, social support and jobs with future prospects. No more political and economic support for the dictatorship in Togo!“, writes the DTA in its call for demonstration. []15]

Click here to see how dictator Faure Gnassingbé (front right) Schulte r on shoulder with the then CEO Dr. Bernd Scheifele (front left) in 2015 opens the Klinkerfabrik Scantogo in Tabligbo.
_{Source: https://www.heidelberg24.de/heidelberg/heidelbergafrika-heidelberg-cement-acht-laendern-Southern Sahara-aktiv-4807344.html}

Recent Togolese media reports (20 and 21 December 2020) show that the issue of unfair compensation for the land grab of the Scantogo clinker factory with the associated limestone mine in Sikakondji is highly topical. Only a few people have received compensation, large sums of payments have disappeared unknown. []16, 17]

Sources:

[1] Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (07.08.2020). Climate activists protest at Heidelberg Cement headquarters (update, plus photo gallery). https://www.rnz.de/nachrichten/heidelberg artikel,-heidelberg-klimaschutzieren-protestieren-an-zentrale-von-heidelberg-cement-update-plus-photogalerie- arid,531123.html
[2] Action Right to Remain (17.02.2020). Against Dictatorship and Environmental Destruction in Togo! Criticism of HeidelbergCement in Togo! https://www.aktionbleiberecht.de/?p=16926
[3] Gänsler, Katrin (23.02.2020). Presidential elections in Togo. The situation is tense. taz: https://taz.de/Praesidentwahl-in-Togo/!5664756/%22%20
[4] Gänsler, Katrin (20.12.2018). Long-term government in Togo. Election as a demonstration of power. taz: https://taz.de/Long-term government-in-Togo/!5560272/
[5]Bureau of International Labour Affairs (2019) .Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/togo
[6] Amnesty International (21.05.2017). Amnesty Report. Togo 2017. https://www.amnesty.de/annual report/2017/togo
[7] HeidelbergCement. HeidelbergCement in Togo. https://www.heidelbergcement.tg/en
[8]Action Right to Stay (17.02.2020). Against Dictatorship and Environmental Destruction in Togo! Criticism of HeidelbergCement in Togo! https://www.aktionbleiberecht.de/?p=16926
[9]Dogbevi, Koffi, L’Exploitation Industrielle Face Aux Imperatifs Environnementaux AU Togo: CAS Des Cimenteries (Industrial enterprises subject to environmental restrictions in Togo: The case of cement factories) (21.10.2009), p. 12. Accessible under SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2857426 or https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2857426 (s12)
[10] ibid. p. 13.
[11] ibid. pp. 16 ff.
[12] ibid. p. 12.
[13]
[14] Dogbevi, Koffi, L’Exploitation Industrielle Face Aux Imperatifs Environnementaux AU Togo: CAS Des Cimenteries (Industrial enterprises subject to environmental restrictions in Togo: The case of cement factories) (21.10.2009), p. 42 et seq. Accessible under SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2857426 or https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2857426
[15]Speech contribution Diaspora Togolaise Allemagne (DTA)/ Aktion Bleiberecht Freiburg. (15.02.2020). Read at: https://www.aktionbleiberecht.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Speech contribution-HeidelbergCemet.pdf
[16]
[17] Kamako, Louis (20.12.2020). Mines: Sika-Kondji se soulève et condamne la ‘cruauté’ de ScanTogo (Mines: Sika-Kondji rises and condemns the "cruelty" of ScanTogo.). https://togobreakingnews.info/economie/item/6740-mines-sika-kondji-se%20Repeal%20and%20Condemnation%20of%20Cracity%20of%20Scantogo

Note: All links listed here were last accessed in December 2020/January 2021

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BACKGROUND INFOS

Why a Citizen*Interior Council for the construction change?

We all want a healthy planet that does not slip into a self-reinforcing climate crisis. For this we urgently need a change of construction and cement cannot be the future. Heidelberg Materials and the other cement manufacturers account for 7-8% of all global CO2 emissions [1], and they have no credible plan to change that. Their only solutions are "alternative fuels" and carbon capture [2]:

However, 'alternative fuels' is simply a nice name for garbage, i.e. car tyres, sewage sludge, plastics, meat-and-bone meal, etc., which has been incinerated in cement plants for years, largely exempt from regulations, instead of coal. In their eyes, green is the whole thing only because the cement companies are not accounted for emissions [3], they still create.

At Carbon Capture, the cement industry plans to pump millions of tonnes of CO2 under the sea every year. With other building materials, they would not be emitted in the first place, but the industry thinks it needs a gigantic new infrastructure of ships, trucks and pipelines, which would transport nothing other than CO2 and could not only let everything escape through leaks, but also residents.*can take the air to breathe, as it happened in 2020 in the city of Sartaria [4]. CO2 capture would require new, expensive technology that would not only triple energy consumption but also provide additional particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and ammonia emissions [5].

Nevertheless, the cement industry plans to pump out more than one billion tonnes of CO2 each year in 2050 [6]. From the perspective of Dominik von Achten and Co, it is more than understandable to stick to technological miracle solutions. After all, the cement industry cannot simply be converted in a climate-neutral manner - the limestone that has to be burned for production necessarily releases CO2 [2].

Therefore, our real answer must be: Bauwende, now!

We need to avoid cement as much as possible – and Heidelberg can now lead the way.

We need fewer new buildings, which means that every demolition must be critically questioned and new buildings avoided. First, the existing buildings should be distributed fairly. What is built must be built better, with reused materials or directly ecological building materials such as wood and clay. The cement that still has to be used must be produced without human and international law violations and be produced as energetically as possible. [7,8,9]

The solution will not be easy, so we need a drawn citizen*Interior Council that deals with it. Only by citizens*interior councils, which by drawing lots represent a representative cityscape and by experts*Being supported inside, citizens can*Inside the city itself, complex questions such as the reversal of the building can be decided without being influenced by Franktion constraints and constraints on the tips of heidelberg Materials [10].

Three years ago, all the parliamentary candidates Heidelbergers of the CDU, Greens and SPD clearly stated that they were citizens*Interior councils at federal level want, so time to implement it locally [11].

It's time for Heidelberg*Moving within!

Sources:

[1] https://gccassociation.org/concretefuture/

[2] https://www.vdz-online.de/wissensportal/publications/decarbonisation-of-cement-and-concrete-reduction pathways-and-action strategies

[3] http://www

[4] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gassing-satartia-mississippi-co2-pipeline_n_60ddea9fe4b0ddef8b0ddc8f

[5] https://www.ciel.org/reports/deep-trouble-the-risks-of-offshore carbon-capture-and-storage-november-2023/

[6] https://gccassociation.org/concretefuture/

[7] https://www.architects4future.de/

[8] https://www.bauhauserde.org/

[9] https://dwenteignen.de/

[10] https://www.buergerrat.de/wissen/was-bringen-buergerraete/

[11] https://mittendrin.buergerrat.de/aktuelles/heidelberg-3-0-fuer-buergerraete/

BACKGROUND INFOS

Why not Heidelberg Materials Sponsorship?

Heidelberg Materials has done enough damage worldwide. Whether in Togo, Western Sahara, Palestine or Indonesia, the group has caused environmental destruction, expulsion and exploitation worldwide and has therefore received counter-protest [1].

The least would be to apologize, but instead the destruction already documented in several docs and newspaper reports is simply denied and the protest ignored. On May 16, 2024, at the shareholders’ meeting of Heidelberg Materials, we demanded that we finally give butter to the fish and presented two demands:

1. Pay compensation: In times of record profits, it is not much to ask for 30ct per share and a compensation fund of 50 million € for affected people in Indonesia, Western Sahara, Togo and Palestine.

2. Ensure transparency: commission an independent report on your human rights, everything else is whitewashing and eyewashing. [2]

The top management has refused to respond and instead only emphasizes that they already respect human rights in principle and already have enough internal attention. The compensation fund is also too much to ask for, they are already renewing (no joke) zebra crossings in Bulgaria and doing enough for the local communities... [3] Since then, there has been no further response from Heidelberg Materials to the demands.

At the same time, the company may present itself as a benefactor at city cultural events and the accusations are not mentioned with a word. Whether at the Heidelberg Theater, the Heidelberg Autumn or the Heidelberg Spring, the group is a top sponsor and generously allows the use of its entrance hall for concerts - while it promotes indigenous peoples elsewhere [4].

We should no longer allow this whitewashing. As long as neither a compensation fund nor an independent human rights report have been set up, we as Heidelbergers must*We are fighting this whitewashing.

Sources:

[1] https://end-cement.earth/#struggles

[2] https://end-cement.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/KA Counterapplication Heidelberg Materials-2024-1.pdf

[3] https://end-cement.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Opinion-on-the-counter motions-1.pdf

[4] https://end-cement.earth/indonesia

Resistance in Togo

Heidelberg Materials in Togo

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