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Demokratiskolan
The Natural Resources card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 78 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaEnvironment & resources
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Environment & resources

Natural Resources

Raw materials from mother nature

The forest, the ore, the gravel and the hydropower built Sweden, and who gets to use them is still one of the hottest questions in politics today. The central government holds almost all the levers: the Minerals Act, forestry policy and the permit assessment. The EU's hunt for critical raw materials makes the question increasingly European.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · plans & local opinion · approx 10 %
  • State · laws, permits & ownership · approx 65 %
  • EU · raw materials strategy & nature conservation · approx 25 %

Few areas are so steered by the central government: the laws, the permits and often the ownership too lie with the central government. The general election decides the rules of the game for forest, ore and hydropower.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe local arena
The regionOn the side
Central governmentThe owner & the assessor · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and the building committee (byggnadsnämnden).
The region has no formal role over natural resources.
The Riksdag, the Government, the Mining Inspectorate (Bergsstaten), the Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen), the County Administrative Boards (Länsstyrelsen) and the land and environment courts.
What do they decide?
Detailed development plans (detaljplaner) and the comprehensive plan (översiktsplan) that affect where activities can be located. No veto over mines, unlike with wind power.
No formal role, but regional development and infrastructure are connected to the large establishments.
The Minerals Act and the Forestry Act, permits for mines and quarries, areas of national interest and state ownership through companies.
Where are decisions made?
In the municipal council, often as a consultation body in large permit cases.
In the regional council (regionfullmäktige), which sometimes comments on large cases.
At the Mining Inspectorate, in the courts and ultimately with the Government in the largest cases.
Who pays?
Municipal tax. A mine or industry brings jobs and tax revenue, which often weighs heavily locally.
Nothing of the permit system.
The central government budget, while the central government earns revenue through taxes and state-owned companies.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election The municipal election steers the plans. Public consultations (samråd) are held when large establishments are assessed.
Regional election The regional election influences things only indirectly, via infrastructure and development.
General election The general election steers the laws. Public consultations and referrals are held in every large permit case.
EUThe EU's strategy for critical raw materials and the nature conservation directives pull in different directions: faster mining processes but stronger nature protection. Influenced in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A mine applies for a permit
  1. EU

    Europe wants the metals

    The EU identifies critical raw materials that the union wants to extract more of at home, while at the same time the EU's nature conservation directives protect species and habitats. Both sets of rules steer the Swedish assessments.

  2. State

    The Mining Inspectorate opens the door

    The company applies for an exploration permit from the Mining Inspectorate (Bergsstaten), the state mining authority. If a deposit worth mining is found, the company can be granted an extraction concession, the right to extract the ore.

  3. State

    The environmental assessment decides

    A permit under the Environmental Code is examined by the land and environment court. A public consultation (samråd) is held with local residents, Sami villages, associations and agencies, and the process can take many years.

    Point of influence

    The consultation is open. Local residents can comment and environmental organisations can appeal.

  4. Municipality

    The municipality plans for the community

    The municipality has no veto over the mine, but steers through its plans where housing, roads and industry end up. Often the mine question becomes the big battleground of the municipal election.

    Point of influence

    The municipal election and local opinion weigh heavily when the municipality takes a position.

  5. Your everyday life

    The metal in your phone

    Batteries, electric cars and phones begin in a borehole somewhere. Who gets to drill, where and on what terms, that is politics all the way from Brussels down to the local community meeting.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. What weighs the most for you: new mining jobs and green technology or untouched nature, and who should decide?

  2. Should municipalities have a veto over mines, as they do over wind power?

  3. Who should profit from natural resources: the central government, the area where they are found or the companies that extract them?

  4. The forest is timber, a carbon sink and outdoor recreation all at once. How should the interests be weighed against each other?

  5. Which natural resources are in your own area, and do you know who decides over them?

Glossary

Bergsstaten
The state authority that decides on exploration permits and concessions for mines.
Bearbetningskoncession
The right to extract a deposit, decided by the Mining Inspectorate under the Minerals Act.
Riksintresse
An area the central government has identified as especially important, weighs heavily in all assessments.
Mark- och miljödomstol
A court that examines environmental permits, plans and water questions.
Täkt
A place where gravel, rock or peat is extracted, requires a permit from the County Administrative Board.

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Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.