Biodiversity

KPIs Reports

To monitor the performance of its operational impacts on biodiversity, Vale uses the GRI system indicators (GRI 304 : Biodiversity), which are reported annually by the operating units and whose results are disclosed in the Sustainability Report. Moreover, biodivesity management plans specific to some operational areas presents indicators related to programs and measures, as well as those from the GRI.

Indicators:

Indicator 1

Operational sites owned, leased, managed in, or adjacent to, protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas.

66.5% of our operation are in areas classified as wilderness areas and 25.6% are located in “hotspots” ( high biodiversity value area located outside protected areas), distributed in 11 ecoregions.

Our total operating areas are distributed, in detail, as follows:

¹ To calculate the adjacent area, a buffer of 10 km was considered, generated from the external limits of protected areas and high biodiversity index (environment) and evaluated its overlap in relation to the area of the operational unit. Territories related to Indigenous lands were not considered in the analyses.

Indicator 2

Protected or recovered habitats.

Units Protected by Vale or With Company Support - MM1

¹ The Campos Ferruginosos National Park has part of its area internal to the limits of the Carajás National Forest. The value in question refers only to the area outside these limits.

Amount of land (owned or leased, used for productive or extractive activities) altered or rehabilitated.

Area affected and under recovery (km²)

Location of areas affected and under recovery (km²) - MM1

Indicator 4

Number of species included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list and domestic conservation list with habitats in areas affected by the organization's operations.

In 2018, the sum of the species recorded in the areas directly affected nearby Vale’s operations and in protected areas was 5,021 species; 2,701 of fauna and 2,320 of flora. 100 of these is considered to be on the domestic list of endangered species (Ministry of the Environment) and 67 on the international list (International Union for Conservation of Nature “IUCN”), according to the table below.

Table of species in lists of endangered species

MM2

The number and percentage of operational units that require biodiversity management plans according to stated criteria, and the number (percentage) of those units with plans in force.

46% of Vale’s operational areas need, for compliance with legal requirements, a Biodiversity Management Plan, and in 91% of them, the plans are in force.

Performance Evolution

Indicator: Amount of land (owned or leased, used for productive or extractive activities) altered or rehabilitated.

Areas affected and under recovery (km²) - GRI 304-3

Opening and closing balance (km²) - MM1

Goals and Deadlines

Vale announced in December 2018 the goal of recovering 100 thousand ha of degraded areas by 2030.

This goal is related to the Brazilian commitment to recover 12 million ha of native vegetation, provided for in the National Policy for Native Vegetation Recovery, in order to boost the environmental regularization of Brazilian rural properties through the recovery of permanent preservation areas (APP) and legal reserve, as well as degraded areas with low productivity.

Furthermore, Vale has also assumed water and climate change goals that are also connected to biodiversity as they are associated with the reduction of interferences related to important ecosystem services, with the reduction of fresh water withdrawal and the emission of greenhouse gases.

Our Management

We have adopted an integrated territory management approach and, in the particular case of biodiversity, we have been incorporating and applying concepts related to the Impact Mitigation Hierarchy (HMI)¹ to achieve No Net Loss or Net Positive Impact¹ in territories where Vale operates, with special focus on its natural attributes.

To achieve the “No Net Loss” in biodiversity, the company’s strategy is based on risk and impact management, management of relevant environmental attributes of the territory and continuous improvement of biodiversity performance with the support of risk analysis and information management tools. In 2018, we strive for greater alignment with the 2011-2020 Global Biodiversity Strategic Plan of the Biological Diversity Convention, increasingly integrating the subject to our business and company decisions.

In risk and impact management efforts, we have developed specific studies from the planning of entry into new territories to final design of our projects in order to assess sensitive habitats and species.

In this context, we have worked in recent years to improve biodiversity management plans in the territories where we operate and in our operations. Since 2017, we have been relying on the partnership with The Biodiversity Consultance to develop guidelines for biodiversity management.

¹Impact management approach which must be applied sequentially to anticipate and avoid, and where impact prevention is not possible, minimize; when impacts occur, restore; and where significant impacts remain to some extent, offset. The focus of this approach is to avoid net losses of biodiversity by mitigating risks and impacts.

ICMM commitments and strategic alignments

One of ICMM commitments, and its associated companies, is to not exploit or undermine World Heritage Areas. In 2019, with the release of ICMM Performance Expectations, Vale is committed into aligning with PE 7, which entails, in addition to its commitment not to operate in World Heritage areas, the assessment and management of risks and impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services, by implementing the impact mitigation hierarchy with the ambition of not having significant biodiversity losses.

Biological Diversity Convention (CDB) and Biodiversity Strategic Plan

Vale aims at always being in line with commitments and targets set out by the Biological Diversity Convention (CBD) and the Biodiversity Strategic Plan, contributing to achieve the Aichi Goals.

Impact Management

Vale’s activities envolve, in many cases, the suppression or change of natural habitats. However, the company tries to limit them to situations when it is strictly necessary, with the lowest possible intensity and through the implementation of prevention, mitigation, control, recovery and offset measures that are not restricted to legal obligation, with the purpose of incorporating the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services components to its activities, thus striving, whenever possible, to implement voluntary offset and additionality actions.

We aim at acting based on the impact mitigation hierarchy approach, working with specific studies, from planning the entry into new territories to the final design of our projects.

Our impact management and research initiatives also involve the rehabilitation of areas with the purpose of restoring previously existing native habitats and recovering important ecosystem services. Since 2010, we have been working closely with our partners and making partnerships with research institutions and universities.

In 2018, we continued the implementation of research projects, with an investment of over US$ 5 million.

Policies and Standards

Since it is a multidisciplinary subject, Vale’s guidelines concerning biodiversity are reflected in the Sustainability Policy, with the principle of prioritizing risk and impact management, pursuing zero harm to employees and communities and leaving a positive social, economic and environmental legacy in territories where Vale operates.

Vision of Risks

Our operations cover 1,4 thousand km². The main direct and indirect risks and impacts are associated with our changes to natural environments and our land use that modifies components of the physical environment, which in turn work as support for the elements of the biotic environment (flora and fauna). From the total, 56% is dedicated to ore extraction, industrial production, processing, beneficiation and product transportation, and 44% to industrial plantations.

To classify the biodiversity risks derived from our operations, evaluation criteria were established by weighting specific parameters. In all, nine categories of areas and/or relevant territories to biodiversity were considered, according to global and domestic organizations, to which weights were assigned caracterizing their importance with regard to biodiversity. The calculations were made considering the insertion of operational areas in these areas and /or territories, which generates the risk score.

Out of the 33 units with operating activities (representing 97% of Vale’s total) evaluated in 14 countries, we obtained the following results:

It is concluded that most of Vale’s operational areas are located in areas and/or territories relevant to biodiversity, which deserve greater attention or prioritization regarding their management and, therefore, more efforts in this direction. This analysis has been refined and the results support definitions and improvements in biodiversity management in operations.

Voluntary Initiatives

Please find below the highlights of our performance in biodiversity. These initiatives reinforce our commitment and confirm that it is possible to integrate biodiversity to mining.

Commitments with Biodiversity Conservation

These initiatives reinforce our commitment and confirm that it is possible to integrate biodiversity to mining.

Perspectives

The Biodiversity and Forest Conservation and Management has great challenges, among them is the search for new technologies to allows the implementation of increasingly sustainable projects. All this involves not only companies, but also government, university, and other research institutions’ initiatives which may work together to develop and implement these efforts.

Increasing knowledge of protected areas and improving risk analysis on biodiversity are also part of the challenges that Vale is facing - as these measures strengthen the foundations for risk analysis and impact prevention, as well as for the planning of mitigation and conservation measures. Investments in research and development actions that are already part of this strategy are a great opportunity to ensure successful outcomes for these challenges.

Furthermore, Vale is also in tune with global trends on the subject. Alignment with the global sustainability agenda, focusing mainly on the goals of the Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Earth Life), and the global biodiversity strategy, focusing on the Aichi goals, have been increasingly integrated into the strategy of company.

Business Case

Today, about 1 million hectares of forest, mostly in the Amazon, is protected by Vale, directly or through partnerships. We intend to reforest and protect + 500,000 ha by 2030. Once we do it, it will be an area greater than the Northern Ireland.

For decades Vale has been protecting the Amazon forest, while mining the largest iron ore mine in the world. Thus, the image below shows how, unfortunately, almost all the surrounding area outside the borders of the protected area have been deforested over the past 30 years, being practically intact only the area protected by Vale.