In a recent interview, our preventive manager highlighted the importance of the billion-dollar agreement signed by Vale and BHP after the Mariana tragedy, considered an important milestone in corporate responsibility. She explains that the agreement goes beyond immediate financial compensation: “It requires a long-term commitment from companies to fully repair environmental and social damage, including community relocation and ongoing monitoring.

Vale, BHP and Samarco signed a billion-dollar compensation agreement for the Mariana disaster; experts explain how this impacts the corporate world

The wave of mining waste that destroyed the city of Mariana (MG) left a mark on Brazil. Almost 9 years later, the agreement signed between those responsible for the tragedy, Vale (VALE3), BHP and Samarco, and the Public Authorities launched new parameters of punishment for the misuse of nature on the corporate market.

The pending resolution of the Mariana tragedy culminated in an agreement for the repair of damages, with a total sum of R$170 billion, signed by the parties involved on Friday (25). 

This figure includes the amount that has already been spent on the repair measures that have been carried out since the incident in 2015, approximately R$1.4T 38 billion.

According to Mário Nogueira, business partner at NHM Advogados, an agreement worth such a significant amount with important companies such as Vale and BHP – which lead the segment – sends an important message to all companies, whether they are in the same market or not.

“Companies are now beginning to consider the potential risk of their activities, taking into account how much was paid by these mining companies. Therefore, the cost of prevention becomes more interesting than that of remedying,” Nogueira pointed out in response to the BP Money.

The view was reiterated by Daniela Poli Vlavianos, from the Poli Advogados & Associados law firm, who also pointed out that Vale's billion-dollar agreement for Mariana reaffirms the duty of companies to adopt practices that require the integration of ESG as a legal tool.

“The agreement reinforces that, in the legal context, compensation must cover not only direct material and moral damages, but also the costs of environmental recovery, relocation of communities and long-term monitoring, which creates precedents for future actions involving other large companies,” said the lawyer.

Example of the mining company applied to other companies?

Experts have detected changes in the scenario, but there are still great examples of the opposite. As in the case of the subsidence of the soil in neighborhoods of Maceió (AL), caused by mining activities in Braskem (BRKM).

The first signs of this situation began in 2018, when residents identified the first cracks in their homes. Despite the warning, the company's activities continued and led to the forced evacuation of 60,000 people from the city in 2023. 

The Braskem case reached this extreme because one of its mines, located in the Mundaú lagoon, in Mutange, began to collapse in December of last year. Before that, an earthquake of magnitude 2.5 was even felt in the city. 

The Brazilian Geological Survey, an agency linked to the federal government, confirmed that the cause of all those events was the company's activities in extracting rock salt.

According to Nogueira, it is difficult to calculate the financial losses that Braskem may suffer due to the sinking. So far, the company has already paid out R$3.9 billion in compensation and repair services, but the Public Defender's Office of the State of Alagoas is demanding that the amount be revised to R$5 billion. 

The case of Vale's compensation agreement for Mariana helps, explained Nogueira, to have parameters of what should be compensated.

“If the Mariana agreement used certain criteria, why should the Maceió agreement use others? Of course the cases are not identical, but the search for a basis for assessing damages will always be made,” he pointed out.

The lawyer also stressed the following point: compensation in Brazil was never intended as a punishment so that the offender learns from the mistake and does not repeat it, as occurs in the USA. 

“Brazil has always been more conservative in this regard: compensation should only compensate for the losses suffered. Perhaps the Mariana case is the beginning of a more punitive view of these cases,” he predicted.

However, Deisy Granado reiterated that in equating Vale's compensation with other cases of environmental tragedies caused by companies, a series of factors are put on the table and need to converge. 

These factors would be the environmental and social impact of great magnitude, unequivocal evidence of corporate negligence, as well as, the lawyer cited, a strong social mobilization demanding adequate reparation. 

According to Granado, there is a growing trend towards applying more severe penalties in cases of major environmental disasters. 

“This would be a reflection not only of greater awareness about the importance of environmental preservation, but also of an understanding of the need to establish precedents that discourage negligent corporate practices with the environment and affected communities,” he said.

Tragedy caused by Vale (VALE3) reinforced the ESG agenda in companies

Vale's work with environmental, social and corporate governance has been strengthening over the years, with the company making more investments in this area, as BP Money previously showed. But other corporate sectors have also felt the pressure of this projection. 

In the natural resources exploration sector, companies' transparency has increased through more detailed reports on ESG practices, explained Deisy Vanessa Novais Granado, a lawyer at Luchesi Advogados.

The movement, according to her, includes the publication of targets for reducing emissions, resource use and social impacts. However, challenges persist, especially considering the difference in the size of companies, as well as their commitment and capacity to implement actions.

“It is worth noting that the financial market has played a crucial role in this evolution, as evidenced by the significant growth in the issuance of green bonds and the development of financial products linked to sustainability criteria,” he pointed out.

In this regard, Vlavianos stressed that the tragedies that occurred in Mariana and Brumadinho due to Vale's activities drive the creation of preventive policies, more rigorous environmental audits and the implementation of concrete ESG practices integrated into corporate governance.

“This process has been recognized as a legal and economic safeguard, reducing the risk of large liabilities and strengthening the credibility of companies in the market,” he said.

Source reproduction: BPMoney