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.
Peru: protest and police crackdowns
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.
Conflict has continued in Espinar, most recently in July 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Over a two-month period, people demanded financial help, in addition to the usual requests pertaining to their health and the environment. A single one-off payment of 1,000 Soles (roughly $265) should be given to every adult in the area, they said, from the 3% of the company’s profits that are meant to go to the province, under the terms of the so-called “framework agreement”. But Glencore refused, leading to protests that were eventually suppressed by the police. Peru’s police violated human rights and engaged in ill-treatment and torture of the protestors, according to a report by the National Human Rights Coaltion of Peru.
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Aldo Orellana Lopez | Radio Free (2021-04-27T10:25:24+00:00) Could a UN treaty force mining companies to behave responsibly?. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/04/27/could-a-un-treaty-force-mining-companies-to-behave-responsibly/
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