Thousands of people in Belgrade and other Serbian towns blocked main roads and bridges over the weekend for hours in anti-government protests, targeting two new laws that environmentalists say will let foreign companies take advantage of local resources.

The demonstrators protested against Rio Tinto’s Jadar lithium project and Zijin Mining’s recently opened Cukaru Peki copper and gold mine, which they claim will pollute land and water in the Balkan nation.

Holding banners that read: “Stop investors, save nature, we are not giving up on nature in Serbia,” and chanting “Rio Tinto get away from the Drina river”, the protests were mirrored abroad. Activists gathered in Berlin, New York and at Rio Tinto’s headquarters in London.

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic shared a photograph of the protest on Instagram and commented “clean air, water and food are keys to health.”

“Without that, every word about ‘health’ is obsolete,” Djokovic wrote.

Jadar, discovered by Rio Tinto geologists in 2004, is one of the largest greenfield lithium projects currently in development. It has the potential to produce about 58,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium carbonate per year.

The world’s second-largest miner, which greenlighted the project in July, has repeatedly warned of an imminent and “significant” supply gap for lithium, as demand for the metal used in electric vehicles (EV) and green technologies continues to soar.

Rio Tinto estimates that committed supply and capacity expansions will contribute about 15% to demand growth over the 2020-2050 period. The remaining 85% would need to come from new projects.

To put the situation in perspective, the miner’s head of economics Vivek Tulpule said in October that filling the supply gap will require more than 60 Jadar projects.

Rio’s project, located in western Serbia, would produce enough lithium to power one million EVs. It will also produce boric acid, used in ceramics and batteries, and sodium sulphate, used in detergents.

Sourcing Europe

Mine construction is expected to begin early next year, subject to environmental approvals, with the first production in 2026.

Once in operations, Jadar mine would supply mainly the European market, one of the world’s largest growing EV markets.

Following ramp up to full production in 2029, the mine would produce 58,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 160,000 tonnes of boric acid and 255,000 tonnes of sodium sulphate a year.

Thousands protest against Rio Tinto’s lithium project in Serbia

The Jadar project has an estimated production capacity of 58,000 tonnes per year. (Image courtesy of Rio Tinto.)

In only three years, British car makers will have to source local electric car batteries as set by the Brexit free trade deal inked in 2020.

Under the agreement, all European trade in cars and parts will continue to be free of tariffs or quotas after the Brexit transition period ended on December 31, as long as they contain enough content from either UK or EU factories.

Batteries will at first be allowed to have up to 70% of materials from countries outside the EU. From 2024 onwards, that requirement will tighten to 50%.

The EU is currently constructing large-scale battery cell factories. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic has said that by 2025, the planned facilities would produce cells to power at last six million electric vehicles.

Battery metals ambitions

Over the past five years, the miner has tried to expand its footprint in the battery market. In 2018, Rio reportedly attempted to buy a $5bn stake in Chile’s Chemical and Mining Society (SQM), the world’s second largest lithium producer.

In April this year, it kicked off lithium production from waste rock at a demonstration plant located at a borates mine it controls in California.

Rio invested $10 million to build the pilot plant that will be able to produce 10 tonnes a year of lithium-carbonate. By the end of the year, and based on the trial’s results, it will decide whether or not to spend a further $50 million in an industrial-scale plant with annual capacity of 5,000 tonnes a year — enough for around 15,000 Tesla Model S batteries.

The projected production would be roughly the same as the capacity of Albemarle ’s Silver Peak mine in Nevada, which is currently the only lithium-carbonate producing asset in the country, according to the US Geological Survey.

Serbia’s government anticipates the country’s booming mining sector will start generating between 4% and 5% of its total GDP in less than 10 years, a significant increase from its current 2%.

(With files from Reuters)

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs B. Munkhjin held a meeting with authorities of the National Board of Trade and Open Trade Gate of Sweden on the sideline of the 28th OSCE Ministerial Council, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden on December 2-3. The parties discussed the issue of increasing Mongolia’s export to European Union.

Noting that despite the fact that mining predominates in the Mongolian economy, the country aims to add value to agricultural raw materials to increase its exports of end-products that meet international quality, Deputy Minister B.Munkhjin thanked the Open Trade Gate for working to organize a special training in this direction for Mongolian businesses in the first half of 2022 with a purpose to support entry of Mongolian wool and cashmere products into the EU and Sweden markets.

The Open Trade Gate informed that within the preparations for a special training on exporting wool and cashmere products from Mongolia to the European Union, especially the Swedish market, it is working to conduct a detailed study of the Swedish domestic market, develop a training module and formulate a business plan. In preparation for the special training, it was decided to organize a second online meeting with the Mongolian Wool and Cashmere Association and producers in January 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in India on Monday for just his second overseas trip since the pandemic, seeking to bolster military and energy ties with a traditional ally being courted by Washington.

In its efforts to address a rising China, Washington has set up the QUAD security dialogue with India, Japan, and Australia, raising concerns in both Beijing and Moscow.

India was close to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, a relationship that has endured, with New Delhi calling it a "special and privileged strategic partnership."

"The friendship between India and Russia has stood the test of time," Modi told Putin at a virtual summit in September. "You have always been a great friend of India."

It is only the Russian leader's second trip abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began — he skipped both the G20 and COP26 summits this year — after a June summit with US President Joe Biden in Geneva.

"It's hugely symbolic," said Nandan Unnikrishnan from New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank.

"It's indicative how they do not want the relationship to stagnate or slow down for want of something from the Russian side."

But Putin has to contend with complex regional dynamics, with tensions mounting between India and Russia's traditional ally China following deadly clashes in a disputed Himalayan region.

"Russia's influence in the region is very limited," said Tatiana Belousova of OP Jindal Global University in Haryana, "mostly because of its close ties with China and unwillingness to act in dissonance with the Chinese regional interests."

'Quite remarkable'

The Kremlin said last week the talks will be dominated by defence and energy issues, with the boss of Russian energy giant Rosneft, Igor Sechin, also travelling as a "number of important energy agreements" were on the table.

Russia has long been a key arms supplier to India, which is looking to modernize its armed forces, and one of their most high-profile current contracts is for the long-range S-400 ground-to-air missile defence system.

The deal, worth over $5 billion, was signed in 2018 and deliveries have reportedly begun, but it threatens to upend the burgeoning relationship between New Delhi and Washington.

The US has threatened sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which is aimed at reining in Russia, and the state department said last week that no decisions had been made on any waivers for India.

"It is quite remarkable that India still decided to go ahead with the S-400 deal, despite the US disapproval," said Belousova.

New Delhi has long sought to diversify its military imports but analysts believe it could take some time before it moves away from Russia.

Military equipment was "paramount" to India given "unabated" tensions with Pakistan, according to Unnikrishnan. "You're going to try and nurture whatever is required to ensure that."

India is also keen to increase domestic production and has launched a joint venture with Russia to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles.

India and Russia normally hold annual summits, but the leaders' last in-person meeting was on the sidelines of the 2019 BRICS Summit in Brazil.

"The leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," India's ministry of external affairs said in a statement last month.

The two countries' foreign and defense ministers will also hold talks Monday.

At the 30th Congress of the Mongolian People's Party (MPP), the Chairman of the party, Prime Minister of Mongolia L.Oyun-Erdene has presented 'A new revival policy to stimulate economy’, defined as a target program, which is aims to revive the economy amid the pandemic in a short period of time by resolving the hurdles in the development.

Mr.L.Oyun-Erdene emphasized that the 30th Congress, which falls in the year of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first political party in Mongolia - the Mongolian People's Party, is being organized in most difficult time, the humanity has faced since the World War II – the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and pointing out that while over the last century the MPP dedicated its operations to restore Mongolia's independence and sovereignty and gain its recognition around the world, in the new century we have a historic responsibility to ensure economic independence. He also highlighted that considers the victory in the successive elections, as a responsibility and the ruling party’s main policy will focus on reviving the economy.

Underscoring that if the hurdles in the development is resolved in a short period of time, and the basic capacity of the economy is expanded, Mongolia will be able to reach the objectives to increase GDP per capita by 10 times, decrease the poverty by 5 times, bring the wealthy middle class to 80 percent, Prime Minister of Mongolia L.Oyun-Erdene introduced in detail the SIX SET OF PROBLEMS that have been hindering the development of Mongolia, and its solutions. These are presented as Border Checkpoint Recovery, Energy Recovery, Green Growth Recovery, and State Productivity Recovery.

Through the successful implementation of the new revival policy, the capacity of border points will be increased by three times, rising the products to be exported by two times. In addition, energy capacity will increase 2.5 times, and basic conditions will be created for the realization of mega projects for development.

As a result of the implementation of the projects, job opportunity would increase by 285 thousand, decreasing the internal migration to Ulaanbaatar, creating more job opportunities with high salary in rural areas, ensuring the balance of the urban and rural area.

A new revival policy will allow to expand the two times. With the expansion of the scope of the economy, human development goals will be realized, improving the health and educational service, addressing the problems of housing for citizens, increasing the salary, expand the wealthy middle class, and improving quality of life dramatically.

“A total of MNT 100-120 trillion is needed to implement the revival policy. It is clear that the government cannot raise the money alone. The main principle of realizing the new revival policy is establishing new economic structure based on active participation of citizen, entities, and investors. Basically, the government will play the role of supporter, and provide all-round support to the citizens, private sectors and investors to compete on the world stage,” noted

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Mongolia brings a ferocious, talking dinosaur from Mongolia all the way to the United Nations’ headquarters to urge more climate action from global leaders, in a short film launched as the centerpiece of the global ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ campaign.

Bursting into the iconic General Assembly Hall, famous for history-making speeches by leaders from around the world, the imposing dinosaur tells an audience of shocked and bewildered diplomats and dignitaries that “it’s time humansstopped making excuses and started making changes” to address the climate crisis.

“At least we had an asteroid,” she warns, referring to the popular theory explaining dinosaurs’ extinction 70 million years ago. “What’s your excuse?”

UNDP’s ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ campaign and film aim to shine a spotlight on fossil fuel subsidies and how they are canceling out significant progress towards ending climate change and are driving inequality.

UNDP research released as part of the campaign shows that the world spends an astounding US $423 billion annually to subsidize fossil fuels for consumers – oil, electricity that is generated by the burning of other fossil fuels, gas, and coal.

This could cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccinations for every person in the world, or pay for three times the annual amount needed to eradicate global extreme poverty.

In Mongolia, UNDP aims to raise awareness on the emerging climate crisis in the country via adopting the global campaign. Mongolia is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change as in the last 70 years, annual air temperature increased by about 2,40C, more than double the global average. Ongoing climate warming is causing drought, extreme weather hazards, frequent wildfires, permafrost loss and water shortage in the country. Such negative impacts pose growing challenges and risks to rural livelihoods, which in turn forces internal migration to urban centres. Intensive urbanization has challenges of its own, such as a critical level of air and environmental pollution among others.

In the context of the Don’t Choose Extinction campaign, UNDP Mongolia calls for increased investments in renewable energy solutions, and reduced costs of renewable energy relative to coal-fired power to provide an alternate solution to use for urban residents living in ger (yurt) dwellings with no access to central heating in Mongolia during harsh winter months.

The campaign and film hope to make the sometimes complex and technical issues relating to Fossil Fuel Subsidies and the climate emergency more accessible. The ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ film was created in partnership with Activista Los Angeles (a multiple-award-winning creative agency), David Litt (US President Barack Obama’s speechwriter) and Framestore (the creative studio behind James Bond, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers End Game).

This first-ever film to be made inside the UN General Assembly using computer-generated imagery (CGI), and features Distinguished Actress Ms.I.Odonchimeg voicing the Mongolian version of the global campaign video.

COVID-19 presents an opportunity for governments across the globe to act now to prevent the devastating consequences of climate change. Nature is our single strongest ally to achieve the SDGs. It is now or never. Don’t Choose Extinction.

Find out more about the campaign at www.dontchooseextinction.com

The Ministry of Health reported that 139 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours. This is the lowest daily number of cases recorded in Mongolia since March 17, 2021.

Of the newly detected cases, 105 were confirmed in Ulaanbaatar city and 34 in rural areas.

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia stands at 384,870. Furthermore, one new COVID-19 related death has been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 1,944. Currently, 4,449 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 8,321 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

Of the total patients currently undergoing treatment at hospitals, there are 1,651 patients in mild, 2,187 in serious, 514 in critical, and 94 in very critical conditions.

The 30th Congress of the Mongolian People's Party (MPP) kicks off in the hall of ‘Ulaanbaatar Palace’ today, on December 06. 1245 delegates from 21 aimags, and nine districts of Ulaanbaatar have gathered for the Congress.

At the Congress, Chairman of the MPP, Prime Minister of Mongolia L.Oyun-Erdene has presented 'A new revival policy to stimulate economy’. Afterwards, MPP Secretary-General D.Amarbayasgalan will report the works carried out over the past four years under the theme ‘New Century Advanced Policy’.

As of today, the MPP has 278,716 members, which means one member of the congress is representing 224 MPP members. The eldest member of the 30th Congress is 92 years old and the youngest is 22 years old while 295 or 25 percent out of the total delegates are women. 200 people are participating in the conference with invitation.

Inner Mongolia saw 30 locally infected cases on Saturday, as two officials in the region were sacked after being held responsible for doing a poor job in curbing the spread of Covid-19.

According to China’s National Health Commission, there are an additional 42 locally infected cases within the mainland on Saturday, with five among them being asymptomatic infections.

Among the 42 cases, 30 were in Inner Mongolia’s Hulunbuir city, while four of them were asymptomatic infections.

Ten other cases were in Harbin city of Heilongjiang province, and two in Yunnan province.

Authorities of Manzhouli city within Hulunbuir city in Inner Mongolia announced on Saturday that infected cases include eight teachers and 19 students, and they previously visited multiple schools before their onset.

On the other hand, Manzhouli city authorities sacked Jalainur district Public Security Bureau deputy director Zhao Hui, and vice president of Manzhouli city general union Su Weidong, as they “lack awareness, failed to discharge their duties and delayed executing their job duties.”

In a statement, authorities said Jalainur district was arranging transport for some 100 close contacts of infected cases to collective quarantine at around 12.40am to 1.30am on Saturday, but Zhao did not start implementing the arrangement until 7am, “which greatly affected the transportation and clearing Covid-19 infections.”

Authorities also said Su, in charge of one of the quarantine centres in Manzhouli city, lacked a sense of responsibility and was unaware of the number and situation of people in the quarantine centre and was unable to implement measures to curb the spread of the disease.

Calls are mounting for strong punishment for four middle school students who have been accused of assaulting a classmate from Mongolia.

The four students living in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, whose identities were withheld, have been accused of beating the 14-year-old girl for about six hours starting at midnight, July 3.

The victim was a middle school student who moved to Korea from Mongolia about 10 years ago.

They tied the victim's hands and legs and punched her in the head and face multiple times, and wrote racial slurs on her forehead, according to Yangsan Police Station. The students filmed the act and later distributed the video among fellow students, offering to sell the footage for 5,000 won ($4), according to police.

A public petition was posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Thursday, calling for harsh punishment for the students and the disclosure of their identities. It has garnered over 170,000 signatures as of 2 p.m., Sunday.

"I demand a thorough police investigation into the case, followed by strong punishment of the four students. If they do not face legal punishment (due to their age) I want their parents to be held responsible," wrote the petitioner.

The police said they have handed two students over to prosecutors after charging them with group assault, Oct. 28. The other two were sent to the juvenile department of Ulsan District Court, as minors aged 14 or younger cannot be held criminally responsible under current laws.