The city of Zenica is located about 70 kilometers north of Sarajevo and until recently was one of the most polluted local government units in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Citizens’ Association “Eko Forum” Zenica was founded 16 years ago on the initiative of a group of citizens, with the vision of realizing the right to a clean environment as a basic human right. Since 2019, this Association has been a member of the network of Aarhus Centers BiH, together with centers in Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Tuzla.
The Association’s goal is to promote actions for a clean environment, sustainable development and healthy living, as well as to put pressure on the authorities to adapt outdated eco-regulations to strict global standards. To date, the Association has become an indispensable factor in environmental protection. Activists of this association organized mass eco-protests in December 2012, initiated the first court cases against individuals and entities responsible for pollution, and raised citizens’ awareness of their role in the fight for a clean environment. At the very beginning of the conversation, Prof. Dr. Samir Lemeš, President of the Board of Directors of the Association, spoke to us about the recapitalization of the Zenica steel mill by Arcelor Mittal, expectations from the new owner, and the delay in investing in the latest technology that the corporation has long used in its plants around the world. As he points out, pollution levels in Zenica have repeatedly exceeded the permitted limits, so a group of conscientious citizens decided to establish an association that will put pressure on both the authorities and the industry to reduce pollution and bring it within the permitted limits.
This Association has been advocating for the establishment of the Polluter Register for years and believes that it is a necessary step in the fight against pollution. The occasion for the conversation was the awarding of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Environmental Awareness Award to the film “Sky Above Zenica” by directors Nanna Frank Møller and Zlatko Pranjić. The film highlights the efforts of activists from the “Eko Forum” Association to expose how the steel mill, which is the dominant source of pollution in Zenica, presents itself as an environmentally conscious industrial facility while at the same time continuing its harmful practices. Despite the fact that the plant enjoys the support of the city authorities and attracts money from European investors, its real impact on the environment and the population of Zenica remains hidden.
“We have often pointed out that Zenica is the most polluted city in Europe, mainly due to industrial pollution, for which there is a solution. Industry in Zenica has existed for 130 years and the pollution problem has been known since 1950. As early as the 1960s, Zenica introduced a polluters’ tax. From that tax, which was paid by the Iron and Steel Works, the Mine and the Thermal Power Plant, trees were planted, streets were washed, picnic areas were built, etc. The problem was known about, but there were no technological solutions at the time. The first technological solutions were offered in the 1980s, but the war interrupted those plans. After privatization, the new owner, ArcelorMittal, was expected to implement environmental measures and invest in environmental protection. The contract on the recapitalization of this steelworks is kept secret by the FBiH Government. The contract was signed in 2004, and in 2008, integrated steel production was launched. “The expectations were that the new owner, a world leader in steel production, would invest in new technologies, but that did not happen,” said Lemeš.
Lemeš continues by stating that, thanks to the selfless sharing of knowledge by senior members and supporters, the endless perseverance and energy of volunteers and activists, the “Eco Forum” has become an indispensable factor in every story about environmental protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond. The Association has often been approached by the media, citizens and representatives of foreign embassies, before they approached the authorities. Through its activities and pressure, the Association has managed to force a global corporation to invest tens of millions in environmental protection. They have also managed to get the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism to change some bad regulations and to introduce deadlines for the implementation of measures in new environmental permits. They have forced the local government to install pollution measurement equipment, and for foreign embassies to start financing environmental projects. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but the courage, perseverance and enthusiasm of our members guarantee that the goal of the Eco Forum – an environmentally sustainable Zenica – will be achieved,” Lemeš emphasizes.
“Eco Forum” was founded a few months after ArcelorMittal started integrated production in Zenica and since then they have been involved in a multitude of activities. Their participation in meetings, public discussions, organizing protests, received a lot of media attention and eventually led to certain changes. However, everything went too slowly because it took 15 years to install filters on all metallurgical plants in Zenica, except for the coke oven. “ArcelorMittal invested in all plants and emissions gradually decreased, but there were no significant investments in the coke oven. Recently, most of the activities of this association have been aimed at forcing the company to invest in filters on the coke oven. The company justified itself by the high price, which is not worth it for them, although there were years when the annual profit was higher than the amount of that investment.
“We have had a big problem all along explaining to people that solving environmental problems and reducing pollution does not mean closing the factory or losing jobs. This was very difficult to explain to both the local population and government institutions. The economy was always put before environmental protection. On the other hand, there was no data on the health of the population. We contacted banks and used the complaints mechanism before the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to put additional pressure. This certainly contributed to the corporation’s decision to announce the closure of the coke oven in March 2024. The initial plan was to invest 36 million euros in filters, that is, to use technology that is already in use in other countries. After the closure of the coke oven in Zenica, the air quality has improved drastically. The air in Zenica is finally within the permitted limits, which has not happened since 2008. Through this example, we have shown that persistence and perseverance pay off and that it must eventually yield results,” said Lemeš.
The citizens’ association “Eko Forum” was formed by citizen enthusiasts and activists who were not reconciled to the fact that the government does not want to discipline large polluters. One of the goals of “Eko Forum” is to internationalize the problem, in order to transfer the problem from the local community to the international scene, because it is an international corporation.
“The problem cannot be solved locally if a global corporation is involved in the problem. The local community must show that its voice is heard, but the solution must be found outside the country. We managed to network with an organization from the Czech Republic that dealt with industrial pollution. We found partners in the Czech Republic who taught us how to use the Aarhus Convention and the judiciary. They also offered us help to conduct research on the impact on health. However, we encountered closed doors from domestic institutions. The Public Health Institute obstructed all our attempts to obtain any knowledge under various pretexts: lack of money, complexity, lack of capacity, etc. When we found the money and applied for the project, we offered them the opportunity to conduct a pilot study and research together, which the Institute did not agree to. The research results showed that there is DNA damage in citizens not only in Zenica, but even in rural areas that are 20 to 40 kilometers away from Zenica, which is an indicator that public health institutions should address this more seriously. “We had a presentation of that report and we expect institutions to wake up and take it upon themselves to continue the research. We lack data on the impact of pollution on health because that is precisely the main argument. When the economy is prioritized and when its benefits are considered, no one mentions the costs of treatment, and this can only be compared if there is accurate data,” Lemeš explained.
He notes that it is necessary to use all the experience of the “Eko Forum” Association, which conducted the research in Zenica and Lukavac. He also points out that there were obstacles in Lukavac, given that citizens did not want to provide information about their own health. “The survey was conducted in cooperation with an institute in Sarajevo and saliva samples were taken for DNA analysis. In order for this DNA analysis to give a certain result, it was necessary to supplement it with other data on other influential parameters such as whether someone is a smoker, what their lifestyle habits are, whether they used any therapy or have fillings. Citizens were not willing to provide information about their own health because they did not trust the non-governmental sector. If by any chance institutions had done this in cooperation with the ministries of education, if they had received permission to go to schools and take samples there that would be processed anonymously, much better quality data would have been obtained.
After the Association filed criminal charges, government institutions began to take them more seriously and consult them when making certain decisions. They currently have very good cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, which consults with civil society on numerous issues.
“They understood how strong civil society is in the field of the environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One example speaks for itself. Ten years ago, we had a problem with measuring benzene, a specific pollutant that only exists in Lukavac and Zenica, and we came across information that there is a Rulebook in the FBiH that states that only laboratories accredited in BiH can do these measurements. Since we did not have such laboratories, polluters had an excuse – they would measure, but there is no one to measure because there are no such laboratories in BiH. It took us a year to persuade the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism to add one sentence to the rulebook: “if there is no such laboratory in BiH, a foreign laboratory can be used” . This is just one example of how we have changed legislation. Laws in BiH are largely harmonized with European ones on paper, but when it comes to application and implementation, we are far from Europe,” Lemeš concluded.
Written by: Hazim Okanović
This story was made possible through the generous support of the American people through the Local Works program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The author and the Peacebuilding Network are solely responsible for the content of this story. The views expressed in this story do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
