The right of local communities to live in a healthy environment is jeopardised by the rush to mine for more transition minerals
Photo: iStock Over the past several years (2010-2022), hundreds of cases of human rights abuse have been committed by over 90 corporations mining minerals critical to the production of clean energy, according to a new report.
A handful of the most well-established firms in the mining sector continue to be linked to a majority of the cases of environmental and human rights abuse, with two-thirds of recorded abuses since 2010 being linked to just 14 companies, according to the study by the Business and Human Rights Resource Center. This included China Minmetals, Glencore, Grupo México, Codelco, Freeport McMoran and Solway.
Glencore is linked to 70 allegations of abuse, the most for any company in the tracker for the second year in a row. China Minmetals, the owner of the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru, followed close behind with 67 allegations. Less than half of the mining companies associated with allegations in the tracker had human rights policies in place, according to the report.
Transition mineral mining also harms local communities in other ways and the environment too, the authors of the report noted.
The Transition Minerals Tracker 2022 monitored the human rights implications of mining for six key minerals for renewable energy technologies and batteries — cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel and zinc.
The global update analysed allegations of abuse from 2010 to 2022 and gave a snapshot of the 2022 data.
The Las Bambas copper mine in Peru had the highest number of allegations of abuse in 2022 and the allegations included violation of land rights, impacts on the local environment, corruption and attacks against human rights defenders.
The report pointed out the efforts made by the local communities and the state to the violations. Legal challenges have been initiated and numerous protests have led to production pauses and project delays.
Transition Minerals Tracker 2022 revealed that it was not only the communities around Las Bambas who raised their voice against “business-as-usual approach to transition mineral mining” but indigenous and local communities across the globe have increasingly turned to protests and courts.
A majority of minerals essential for the energy transition are located in reserves near or on the lands of indigenous peoples and farmers. The tracker included 49 allegations of abuse related to indigenous peoples, bringing to light the impacts of irresponsible mining for these communities, including on their livelihoods, cultures and their right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
FPIC is a specific right that pertains to indigenous peoples and is recognised in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It allows them to give or withhold consent to a project that may affect them or their territories.
The tracker gives information of 133 attacks against human rights defenders (HRD)s, with 13 new attacks on HRDs in 2022 alone. Of these, five were against Indigenous defenders.
The tracker has identified a total of 510 allegations of human rights abuse from 2010 to 2022, including 65 new allegations for 2022. Human rights defenders (HRDs) continue to pay a high price. Over one-quarter (133) of allegations represent attacks against them, including 13 attacks in 2022.
Water intensity of mining operations was increasingly threatening communities with over one-quarter (133) of allegations related to either water pollution, water access issues, or both.
Mutuso Dhliwayo, Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association Executive Director, said:
The reality of living in a cleaner, greener world is that we still need to get our hands dirty through mining activities. The time for a human rights-centred method of mining and recognition of its link to long-term value creation for the owners of these companies, is now.
The report proposed recommendations to companies, investors and governments.
Transition Minerals Tracker aims to improve the human rights practices of 93 companies and their 172 mining operations producing the minerals vital to the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors by throwing light on the human rights risks in the geographies where they operate, and the human rights policies and practices of the most important companies in this sub-sector.
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