Environmental degradation

There is the Cerrejon thermal coal mine in Colombia -- jointly owned by Glencore and two other transnational companies, BHP and Anglo American -- whose expansion over the past 40 years is alleged to have caused environmental degradation and health problems for the local community.

Glencore has also been blamed for contaminating the area around Peru's Cerro de Pasco mine, run by a local company, Volcan, in which the mining giant has a majority stake. The dangerously high levels of lead, arsenic, aluminium and manganese found in local water caused the Peruvian government to declare a health emergency in 2018 after several children fell ill with lead poisoning. In Glencore's Porco mine in Bolivia, there are allegations of child labour and other abuses.

In November 2020, Glencore said it “works in line with international standards” and has “zero tolerance for child labour”. It added that it was “proud to be a member of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the International Council on Mining and Metals”, as well as “an active participant in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative”.

So, how does all of this stack up?

Glencore is one of the world’s biggest transnational companies dedicated to the production and marketing of raw materials. It has mining operations in more than 50 countries and its revenues in 2019 exceeded $215bn, five times more than Bolivia's GDP, 95 percent of Peru’s GDP and two-thirds of Colombia’s GDP in that year.

The company is seeking to jump on the low carbon and renewable energy bandwagon. In December 2020, it promised to cap its coal extraction and to support low-carbon technologies and the more efficient use of resources. While it made headlines as the first mining company to claim full alignment with the goals of the Paris climate change agreement, there is little evidence that Glencore has changed its actual practices on the ground.

This is why it’s necessary to push for mechanisms that can force transnationals such as Glencore to be accountable for their actions. Switzerland’s Responsible Business Initiative, according to activist Stephan Suhner, a member of ask!, a Swiss-Colombia working group, would have contained ‘due diligence’ measures. These would have made Swiss companies liable for human rights or environmental violations they caused around the world, forcing them to identify, prevent and be held accountable for any negative impacts of their activities.

Unfortunately, when it was put to the vote in Switzerland in November 2020, a narrow majority of voters backed it overall, but the initiative failed because it was rejected by 17 out of 26 Swiss cantons. The second measure that would hold transnational companies to account is the UN Binding Treaty on Transnational Business and Human Rights, which would force companies to take responsibility for the negative impact they cause in the territories.

In Colombia’s La Guajira peninsula, Glencore owns an equal share with Anglo American and BHP in Cerrejon. The impact of Latin America's largest open-pit coal mine is contested, but what's not in doubt is the anger it has caused among the Indigenous Wayúu and other local communities.

In 2017, the Wayúu filed a lawsuit against Cerrejon for threatening their fundamental rights to water, food, and health by diverting a 3km section of the Arroyo Bruno stream in order to expand coal-mining operations in the arid region. Several communities depend upon the Arroyo Bruno to survive. Mining explosions cause pollution that affects the health of local communities. The Wayúu also believe that sacred territory has been desecrated, so much so that their spiritual healers are no longer able to commune with the earth and guide their communities.

Organizations in La Guajira say they have received threats from paramilitaries for their robust defense of their territory. There is no evidence or suggestion that the mining companies are responsible for these threats. Colombia is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for defenders of land rights. In its 2019 report, Global Witness, the international NGO that reports on resource exploitation, poverty, corruption and human rights abuses, said 64 community and social leaders had been killed in Colombia that year.

In January 2021, international and Colombian organizations filed several formal complaints about Cerrejon mine with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD first issued voluntary guidelines for responsible business conduct by multinational enterprises nearly half a century ago.

The complainants listed Ireland’s state-owned Electricity Supply Board, which has in the past bought Cerrejon coal; the Dublin-based Coal Marketing Company, which sells it; and the mine's owners, Glencore, BHP and Anglo American. The aim was to force the Irish companies to suspend their relationship with Cerrejon, and for the three owners to recognise their liability and provide redress.

The complainants also noted the mine-owning companies’ announcement that they would sell their shares. “There needs to be an assessment of business conduct,” the complainants wrote, “as well as the environmental and social liabilities left by these companies prior to their departure from the country, to avoid compounding corporate impunity.”

In response, Cerrejon published a statement where it said it was “committed to operating in adherence to Colombian legislation and judicial rulings as well as the appropriate international guidelines governing human and environmental rights."

In January, Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board told the Financial Times that it was unaware of any complaint being filed under OECD guidelines.

“ESB confirms that it purchased coal from the Cerrejón mine in the past. In the period 2015-2018 ESB purchased just over two per cent of the coal mine’s output. ESB purchased no coal from Cerrejón in 2019 or 2020,” read the statement.

One of Glencore’s most important projects in Peru is the Antapaccay mine in Espinar province, in the southern highlands region of Cusco. In 2018, Antapaccay produced over 200,000 tonnes of copper, nearly 45,000 kilograms of silver and more than 4.1 million grams of fine gold.

Mining activity in Espinar began more than three decades ago and over time, there has been increasing conflict over alleged water, air and soil contamination. In December 2019, a court in Espinar ruled on the heavy metal contamination of the area and the effect it was having on the local population. It was recognition, albeit delayed, of years of struggle by rural communities and campaign groups to focus attention on their demands. But the state’s apathy and the mining companies’ indifference has led to several tense stand-offs, with notable conflicts in 2012 and 2020.

In 2012, police and protesters clashed over Peru's Las Bambas copper mine, leaving four people dead, several injured and many others under arrest. An investigation by the National Human Rights Coalition of Peru found that the country’s police was secretly collaborating with mining companies to protect their economic interests and prosecute those who led protests against the status quo.

Excerpted: ‘UN Treaty Could Force Mining Companies to Behave Responsibly’

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