Driving Change in Aluminum Supply Chains

The green transition depends, among other things, on minerals. One such mineral is bauxite, which is used to make aluminum and is therefore essential for manufacturing batteries and parts for electric vehicles. While these resources enable technology that diminishes fossil fuel dependency, the mining operations required to extract these materials often destroy carbon sinks like old-growth forests and perpetuate abusive labor practices. Moreover, these activities severely impact local communities, who suffer from polluted air, soil, and water near mining and refining sites, with forced labor commonly occurring in related logging operations. Brazil is the world’s fourth-largest producer of bauxite. 90% of the extraction in Brazil takes place in the Pará region, which is located in the Amazon, making the risk of environmental damage even more serious.

In this project Transparentem Ltd. aims to promote a more sustainable aluminum industry, where companies take responsibility for their impact on human rights and the environment. They intend to do this by investigating social and environmental violations in bauxite mines and aluminum refineries in Pará.

The project is supported with 5 220 000 SEK.

What happens in the project?

The project consists of two parts:

– The first part is an investigative phase during which environmental and labor rights violations in bauxite mines and aluminum refineries will be examined. Activities include interviews, training of local residents to investigate and document the impact on their communities, and collecting data on deforestation, pollution, permits, and environmental impact.

– The second part consists of a strategic engagement phase. This includes contacting the examined facilities and share the results of the investigation with them, developing recommendations for how companies should act on the information, and compiling everything into a report. Additionally, investors, industry organizations, and other relevant state-owned companies will be contacted to push through policy reforms.

Why was the project supported?

This project aims to protect land and increase reforestation efforts, clean up legacy pollution and ensure pollution prevention measures, secure compensation for past harm, and prevent forced labor in operations linked to the mining of critical minerals.