British Mining in Latin America War on Want Fights Against the Root Causes of Poverty and Human Rights Violation, As Part of the Worldwide Movement for Global Justice
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
British mining in Latin America War on Want fights against the root causes of poverty and human rights violation, as part of the worldwide movement for global justice. We do this by: • working in partnership with grassroots social movements, trade unions and workers’ organisations to empower people to fight for their rights • running hard-hitting popular campaigns against the root causes of poverty and human rights violation • mobilising support and building alliances for political action in support of human rights, especially worker’s rights • raising public awareness of the root causes of poverty, inequality and injustice, and empowering people to take action for change. www.waronwant.org This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are This project has been financed the sole responsibility of War on Want and can in no way by the European Union. be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. CONTENTS 01 Preface 02 1. London and extractivism 04 Extractivism and global markets 06 Corporate elites 06 Copper and coal 06 Mining Conflicts in Latin America: Table and Map 09 2. Anglo American: Toxic spills and deadly threats 14 Chile and Peru: environmental pollution 15 Minas Rio, Brazil: opposition and fear 17 3. BHP Billiton: the world’s biggest mining giant 19 The Samarco dam collapse: the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history 19 Antamina: poisoning people? 22 Escondida in Chile: the biggest copper mine in the world 24 4. Glencore: rotten to the core 25 Environmental damage in Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru 26 Tintaya: human rights violations 29 5. Anglo American, BHP and Gencore: the devastating case of the Cerrejón mine in Colombia 30 6. Antofagasta: copper, destruction and division 35 7. Conclusions 39 8. Recommendations 41 9. References 43 02 Preface British Mining in Latin America The planetary emergency we are facing is includes a table with a total of 56 operations exacerbating the intersecting injustices already tied to British mining companies, 32 of which faced by marginalised people around the are documented to have ongoing conflicts. world. We are in Decade Zero – an indispensable period of ten years where we The companies in question, all of which are must achieve major systems change by pulling listed on the London Stock Exchange, are The Rivers are Bleeding: down emissions and dissolving the inequalities among the biggest and best known in the that make us vulnerable to climate violence. mining world: principally Anglo American, However, over the last two decades, almost BHP and Glencore. The report also covers all the countries of the Global South have other less known London-listed companies seen intensified exploration and such as the Anglo-Chilean firm Antofagasta. overexploitation of natural resources. Mega- mining, agribusiness, large-scale fishing, logging At the date of publication of this report, the and oil and gas extraction have seen significant Observatory for Mining Conflicts in Latin booms of activity, deepening the crisis and America (OCMAL) registers a total of 253 taking us closer to the point of no return. conflicts related to mining operations in Latin America.1 The extent and density of conflicts In Latin America, mineral resources and fossil correlates with the major foreign investment fuels have attracted huge foreign investments, destinations of mega-mining in the region.2 resulting in the occupation of larger territories, the generation of copious Mining conflicts are fuelled by environmental quantities of waste and pollution, and the use degradation, competition over water, the of vast amounts of water and energy. The dismantling of local organisations, fraud, premise that the extraction of these corruption, dispossession, repression and the resources leads to ‘development’ has shaped criminalisation of community opposition. economic, social and environmental policy. Extractive mining fundamentally transforms Companies and states promote globalisation the spaces where land-based communities and export-oriented extraction as the only develop and carry out their livelihoods: their road to growth. homes, their fields, their places of work and culture. These impacts are disproportionately Distant from any significant media scrutiny and felt by women, who are traditionally let loose by the UK government, British mining responsible for domestic labour and companies stand accused of polluting the caregiving.3 Mega-mining projects compound environment and undermining the livelihoods this burden by removing men almost entirely of communities near mines across Latin from this work – engulfing them in the America. This report provides a snapshot of economy of the mine without direct just 17 of the most destructive and employment – while simultaneously giving controversial mining projects, where frontline women no recognition or remuneration. The communities do battle against powerful lack of research in this area and attention transnational companies. This report also paid to this is a sobering reflection of how 03 the lives, labour and liberties of women are solution-bearers to the climate crisis by devalued in the context of extractive mining. sourcing the metals used in renewable energy technologies. This greenwashed vision is not The overwhelming conclusion is that mining compatible with the social, ecological and companies are evading responsibility for the materials limits that the expanding extractive devastating social, cultural, economic and frontier tramples upon. The notion that we environmental legacies these projects leave can simply switch from an economy powered behind. Furthermore, when communities by fossil fuels to one powered by renewable and human rights defenders working to energy, with the same levels of consumption highlight them are ignored, contradicted in the Global North, is not an option. A and even killed by state forces, it is an just(ice) transition away from the current ominous reminder that these corporations fossil fuel and extractive regime is not only are not acting alone, but in alliance with necessary to confront the climate crisis, but those in power. it is also our greatest opportunity to lay the foundations for a bold economic transition Despite the alarming data compiled in the that takes us beyond extractivism. following report, we also see that community resistance to industrial mining is growing and War on Want is engaged in the global strengthening as important advances are struggle to challenge corporate power, made to limit, question and stop this guarantee justice for communities affected by extractive activity where it is most extractivism and hold complicit governments destructive. Communities, their local to account by demanding a just(ice) organisations and those that support them transition. We work with Indigenous and should take full credit for having initiated a Afro-descendant communities, grassroots critical discussion about the bounds and organisations and international NGOs to regulations needed for a highly unsustainable defend territories threatened by the industry; as well as the possibility of expansion of extractive industries and to alternatives, not only for Latin America but guarantee their right to decide about their for the entire planet. lands and development. The global mining industry is responsible for a We call on the UK government to commit – considerable portion of global greenhouse in good faith – to the process of establishing a gas emissions and biodiversity loss, binding mechanism that regulates the contributing to rapid ecological breakdown. behaviour of corporations and governments, Yet in dominant visions of a green industrial and guarantees the rights of communities, strategy, mining companies are portrayed as workers and the environment. Asad Rehman Lucio Cuenca Exectuive Director Director War on Want OLCA (Observatory for Environmental Conflicts in Latin America) and on behalf of OCMAL (Observatory for Mining Conflicts in Latin America) 04 1. London and extractivism British Mining in Latin America The Rivers are Bleeding: © Liam Barrington-Bush Activists from the Movement of People Affected by Dams in Brazil and the trade union federation, IndustriAll, attend the 2018 BHP shareholders’ meeting. London is the hub of global mining finance and power. The United Kingdom is one of the most important investment hubs for the global mining industry. Most of the world’s biggest mining companies are incorporated in the UK. Of these, many have shares publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Main Market, and approximately 110 companies have shares traded on the LSE’s secondary Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The UK also hosts the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world centre for industrial metals trading. 05 In Latin America, mineral resources and fossil fuels have attracted huge foreign investment. What is extractivism? But their extraction has also left a trail of environmental degradation, labour Extractivism is a highly destructive model exploitation and human rights violations, as of economic development based on the well as triggering competition over water and intensive extraction of finite natural territory with land grabs, either forcible or resources such as metals, minerals, fossil negotiated through corruption and fraud. fuels, land and water. It is a model Although the devastating consequences for through which the economy, social local communities and ecosystems have been relations of class, race and