Business & Human Rights Resource Centre The true cost of mining - Ensuring justice for people and communities affected by the Brumadinho dam disaster , 25 January 2021
The second anniversary of mining company Valeâs rights abuses in Brumadinho is 25 January 2021. Christian Aid and MAB (Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens or Movement of People Affected by Dams) together commemorate the 270 victims who died and stand in solidarity with their families and communities.The UN Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes said âthe Brumadinho disaster was technically caused by structural instability and liquefaction, the real cause lies with a remarkable lack of Government oversight and criminally reckless conduct by Vale.â Court rulings, individual lawsuits and a remedy agreement for families who lost loved ones have been achieved. Yet the process of comprehensive redress
From ‘pushback’ to pushing ahead How the Brumadinho disaster brought miners onboard with tailings reform. January 6, 2021
Right: A fines retention dyke completed in January 2020 at Vale’s Corrego do Feijao iron ore operation in Brazil. Credit: Vale
In 2017, GRID-Arendal, an environmental centre based in Norway and a partner of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), published Mine Tailings Storage: Safety is No Accident. The report called for the development of a global standard covering the construction and operation of tailings dams, a global insurance scheme, and more oversight and transparency around tailings.
While it was written in response to recent tailings failures, including Mount Polley in British Columbia and Samarco in Brazil (which killed 19 people), the mining sector was resistant at the time to many of the recommendations, says Elaine Baker, one of the authors of the report and director of the GRID-Arendal offi
Partnership to support the Global Tailings Standard
Investors ask all mining companies to confirm support for the implementation of the Global Standard in their operations
18 December 2020 - Today the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Co-Convenors of the Global Tailings Review, the Church of England Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds, announced a partnership to create an independent international institute to support the implementation of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management. The industry Standard was launched in August 2020 and follows the January 2019 Brumadinho tailings dam disaster that resulted in the deaths of 270 people.