Environmental Compliance
Environmental fines
Respect for the environment is an essential condition to ensure the
continuity of Vale’s operations, which depends on environmental resources.
Nevertheless, mining has significant impact on the territories and its
natural attributes where it is undertaken. Therefore, within this context,
Vale has developed and uses, in all areas where the company operates, an
environmental management system that maps environmental risks in order to
prevent and mitigate those risks, and minimize, compensate and remediate
environmental impacts caused.
Our Management
Vale's environmental management
process aims to establish responsibilities to periodically analyze and
evaluate our compliance with environmental legal obligations and other
requirements applicable to our activities. Internal and external teams
periodically carry out environmental audits and legal compliance
assessments of the environmental management system.
Despite the established management practices, Vale has received, in
2019, 74 significant fines for non-compliance with environmental laws
and regulations, amounting to USD 153.5 million, in addition to nine
non-monetary sanctions[1], out of which USD 125.5 million relates to the rupture of Dam I at the
Córrego do Feijão Mine in Brumadinho, MG. The other significant fines
imposed for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations in
2019 refer to matters such as alleged non-compliance with constraints,
discharge of effluents in disagreement with legislation, pollution,
installation or operation of activity without the proper licenses or
permits, among others.
In 2020, 12 significant fines totaling US$ 30.6 million were imposed for
non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Vale did not
identify any non-monetary sanctions in 2020.
In 2021, the Vale group companies received 21 significant fines for
non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations, totaling about USD
10.2 million, and 11 non-monetary sanctions related to various aspects,
such as alleged non-compliance with environmental conditions, pollution,
and activities performed without the necessary environmental
authorizations/licenses.
For this purpose, the following definitions are applicable:
"Significant fines": means monetary penalties equal to or greater than $10,000 USD (or
equivalent when converted from local currency).
"Non-compliance with environmental laws and
regulations": a non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations occurs when
an authorized body (e.g., governmental body, independent commercial or
non-commercial regulator, etc.) determines that a law, regulation, code,
etc. related to environmental or ecological issues has been breached.
This definition is essentially in line with the GRI G4 Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines definition of environmental laws and regulations:
refers to regulations related to all types of environmental issues (that
is, emissions, effluents, and waste, as well as material use, energy,
water, and biodiversity) applicable to the organization. This includes
binding voluntary agreements that are made with regulatory authorities
and developed as a substitute for implementing a new regulation.
Voluntary agreements can be applicable if the organization directly
joins the agreement or if public agencies make the agreement applicable
to organizations in their territory through legislation or
regulation.
“Ongoing legal proceedings/allegations”: if an
authorized body (e.g., governmental body, independent commercial or
non-commercial regulator, etc.) has already determined the company has
breached a law, regulation, code, etc. related to environmental or
ecological issues and an initial judgment has been entered, the
incident is considered a non-compliance with environmental laws and
regulations, regardless of the company's ability to appeal.
Read more at the
Integrated Report 2020
[1]
Information based on Vale's database system of administrative and
judicial proceedings.
Environmental incidents
All Vale environmental² incidents¹ are recorded and held. The company
follows international premises for the management of environmental
incidents, from the initial communication, adoption of immediate
actions and causes investigation, to the implementation of corrective
actions to eliminate the unwanted effects of the event and lessons
learned record.
In 2021, 28 environmental incidents were classified as severe, by the
company's risk classification criteria. No accidents of critical and
very critical severity were recorded. We advanced in 2021, compared to
2020, with respect to critical and very critical accidents, however we
had an increase in the incidence of severe accidents recorded.
The environmental incidents are distributed as shown below:
All accidents were investigated by a multidisciplinary team. Appropriate
investigation permits to identify contributing factors, reduce risk,
include new environmental controls and improve industrial processes.
1 Incident: An unplanned event that resulted, or could have
resulted, in a loss/impact.
2 Environmental Incidents: Unplanned event which resulted in
an adverse environmental impact.
Note: The Environmental Incidents with grave, severe and very critical
severity were reported on the ESG portal, according to the internal
planning, development and management norm.
Read Also
Policies and Corporate Documents
Our governance aims to accomplish our day-to-day principles by
maintaining clarity of roles, transparency and stability
Read more
Our Strategy and Commitments
Learn about the pillars that guide our strategy
Read more
