A new report by the Mining Observatory finds key mining states in Brazil, including Pará, the host state of the upcoming 2025 U.N. climate summit (COP30), are highly exposed to climate risks, water insecurity and environmental degradation. Mining, combined with worsening climate conditions, exposes communities to more extreme weather events, such as drought and floods, and escalates socioenvironmental risks, the authors say.

The report focuses on mining for minerals used in the global energy transition, such as lithium, nickel, graphite and niobium. Brazil, which mines about 1.7 billion tons of transition minerals annually, plays a significant role in this shift. The country is the second-largest producer of iron ore and it produces more than 90% of the world’s niobium supply. The second-largest reserves of graphite and rare earth elements are found in Brazil, as well as the third-largest reserves of nickel.

In January, Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and government funding agency Finep announced an $815 million investment package to accelerate the development of strategic mineral projects across the country.

“The call is an important step forward in the mineral sector for achieving the Brazilian government’s goals of expanding the industry’s production capacity in the context of sustainable and technological development of the new industrial policy and the ecological transformation plan,” BNDES president Aloizio Mercadante said in a press statement at the time.

Meanwhile, the report highlights some of the detrimental effects of mining for transition minerals on local communities, such as Indigenous and Quilombola peoples, when it is on or near their lands. An analysis published in Nature Sustainability found that 69% of energy transition minerals projects are on or near Indigenous or peasant land.

“The expansion of strategic minerals in Indigenous and Quilombola areas represents a major threat to the way of life of these communities and the preservation of biomes essential to contain the impacts of climate change, such as the Amazon and the Cerrado,” Maurício Angelo, the Mining Observatory’s executive director, a Ph.D. student at the University of São Paulo and author of the report, told Mongabay over email.

Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy did not respond to Mongabay’s requests for comments by the time of publication.

Vulnerable states

The report lists Pará as the most vulnerable mining state in Brazil. Faced with increasing extreme temperatures, erratic rainfall and prolonged dry periods, these hazards can lead to tailings storage failure, mine slope instability and dewatering issues. It warns that the contamination of water resources and lands around mine sites can destroy ecosystems and attract strong opposition from affected communities.

For some, these risks are a reality they already live with, they say. Quilombola and riverine communities that live near the Oriximiná mine owned by Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN), Brazil’s largest bauxite producer, have reported water contamination from the mine’s extensive network of tailings dams. Meanwhile, Vale’s Serra Sul mine has come under heavy criticism from Indigenous communities that live inside the affected Mãe Maria Indigenous Territory. The project has led to a decline in game and cut off access to their most important water body, the Tocantins River.

MRN declined to comment on the environmental impacts of its Oriximiná mine. Vale denied that any of its projects prevent Indigenous communities from accessing water resources.

“The company operates in compliance with current regulations and upholds the principle of free, prior, and informed consultation with Indigenous peoples,” a spokesperson told Mongabay over email. “Vale implements socio-environmental programs that are defined through participatory processes, approved by the Indigenous Community, and monitored by the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples.”

Mauricio Terena, a legal coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, who was not involved in this report, told Mongabay the energy transition and mineral extraction has been imposed on Indigenous territories in Brazil without the participation of Indigenous peoples. “[Outsiders] want to exploit these territories in a violent manner, sometimes without free, prior and informed consultation (FPIC) and without guaranteeing minimal compensation to Indigenous territories.”

Drought is a big issue in Minas Gerais, the location of Brazil’s largest mining industry, which relies heavily on hydroelectric power generation. As mining is water-intensive, environmentalists say it could exacerbate water scarcity in the state and worsen existing grievances due to past disasters. The state has seen some of the country’s worst socio-environmental disasters due to mining, including the Mariana Dam collapse in 2015 and the Brumadinho Dam collapse in 2019 which both caused severe and widespread environmental damage.

The report found that the states of Goiás and Bahia are also considerably exposed to increased climate risks, including water scarcity. Mining requires significant amounts of water, and many water bodies in these states are already declining. This is a concern for mining companies and water users, such as traditional communities that depend on the rivers for personal consumption, irrigation and transportation.

Goiás and part of Bahia are home to a portion of the Cerrado, an ecosystem that is known as the “cradle of waters” because of its vital role in replenishing the main Brazilian and South American watersheds, as well as providing energy and food security for millions of people. Around 216 Indigenous territories, belonging to 83 different ethnic groups, are located in the Cerrado, as well as 44 Quilombola territories.

According to the report, the Cerrado is seeing reduced river flows due to erratic rainfall patterns, agribusiness, mining and urbanization. Further expansion of mining operations could exacerbate water scarcity and place this ecosystem under more significant stress, it said.

“The supply chain that fuels the global energy transition — including electric vehicles like Tesla — is stained with the blood of Indigenous peoples,” said Djalma Ramalho Gonçalves from the Araña Caboclo Indigenous community in the Jequitinhonha Valley, which stretches from the northeast of Minas Gerais to the southern part of Bahia and has been heavily impacted by mining. Tesla did not respond to Mongabay’s request for comment.

“The environmental impacts are catastrophic: the destruction of springs, contamination of water, deforestation, biodiversity loss, the accumulation of toxic tailings, damage to soil and subsoil, air pollution, species extinction, and the improper disposal of hazardous waste,” he said over email. “This degradation of rivers, lands, and ecosystems undermines our food security, our health—physical, mental, and spiritual—and our entire way of life.”

Avoiding the worst impacts

To manage the adverse impacts of mining, the report urges governments, policymakers, industry leaders and other key players to implement stricter regulatory oversight and social and environmental standards, including FPIC at all stages of a project’s development, as well as stronger climate adaptation strategies.

“Metals and minerals are essential to the global energy transition, but they cannot be mined at all costs,” Danielle Martin, the co-chief operating officer and director for social performance at the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), who was not involved in the report, told Mongabay. Instead, she recommended companies adhere to the “highest standards on social and environmental performance,” such as those laid out in ICMM’s Mining Principles, which include commitments to ethical conduct, Indigenous peoples’ rights and climate resilience.

Vale told Mongabay that climate change can “pose significant challenges” for its mining operations, impacting its value chain and disrupting supply chains, outbound logistics and customers’ assets. To prepare ahead, the mining company has mapped out the potential impacts that result from extreme weather events for 100% of its operations.

“Climate risk analysis and management are integrated into a multidisciplinary risk management process covering the entire value chain, as well as short, medium, and long-term horizons,” the spokesperson said over email. “Vale conducts scenario analyses to assess the resilience of its business, considering IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] scenarios, which are assessed in vulnerability and sensitivity analyses, allowing us to understand the exposure of the value chain, as well as its dependencies and impacts.”

Nicholas Pope, a researcher who specializes in governance and the political economy of minerals and extractives, told Mongabay that company standards alone are not enough to manage the impacts. These should be coupled with several other safeguards, he said, such as strengthening local governance, embedding cumulative risk assessment into mining governance and recognizing Indigenous and local communities as true political actors.

“Mining for transition minerals is unavoidable,” he said. “But how we mine is a choice that will determine whether the energy transition confronts or deepens historical injustices.”

Banner image: Aftermath of the Mariana Dam collapse in Minas Gerais. Image by Cai Santo via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Citation:

Owen, J. R., Kemp, D., Lechner, A. M., Harris, J., Zhang, R., & Lèbre, É. (2022). Energy transition minerals and their intersection with land-connected peoples. Nature Sustainability, 6(2), 203–211. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00994-6

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