The Limits of Carrying Capacity: From Prachovice to the Planetary Boundaries with Arnika

Cement is the invisible foundation of modern civilization – and one of the planet’s biggest industrial polluters. In her lecture, Nikola Jelinek from Arnika will present how cement production contributes to exceeding planetary limits, polluting the air and burning waste. She will link the global impacts of the cement industry to the Czech reality using the example of the Prachovice case, where local residents have been in a long dispute with the CEMEX cement plant over odour, toxic emissions, and the pursuit of further mining near a protected landscape area. The lecture shows how environmental conflicts arise in our country – and how civil society plays an important role in them.

Nikola Jelínek works at Arnika, where she is an expert on toxic substances in the environment and provides expert support for Czech and international projects and campaigns, writes expert articles and reports, conducts environmental sampling and participates in the negotiation of international conventions on transboundary waste and toxic substances management.

In collaboration with Arnika.

Photo: Jan Losenický