The mining industry is using COP30 to brand its operations as not only “sustainable” but also “essential” for the energy transition. Yet, community groups and social organizations warn of the dangers tied to exploiting so-called critical minerals—impacts already felt in Brazil.
“I don’t see the [energy] transition happening without mining,” said Anderson Baranov, CEO of Norsk Hydro, on COP30‘s opening day in Belém.
Excitement about Brazil’s reserves of critical minerals was palpable at the discussion tables in the Blue Zone, the official negotiations area at the UN Climate Conference.
“There’s been a lot of talk that agribusiness is pop, but mining is top. It’s leading the current debates,” Baranov added.
Hydro operates the Alunorte refinery in Barcarena, in the state of Pará—one of the world’s largest aluminum extraction facilities. Aluminum, along with lithium, copper, rare earths, and others, is regarded as strategic for both the technology and defense sectors.
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These minerals underpin products like batteries, solar panels and electric vehicles—key to transitioning away from fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas, which significantly drive the greenhouse effect.
“Mining is top, absolutely,” agreed Marco Braga, vice president of Vale’s Novo Carajás Project. Both he and Baranov spoke on a panel hosted by FIEPA, the Federation of Industries of the State of Pará, on Monday (Nov. 10) in the Blue Zone.
Vale, Brazil’s largest mining company, is betting on expanding copper mining in the Carajás region of Pará. “As the world electrifies—with more data centers—you need more electricity and more copper,” Braga said.
Because the federal government classifies these minerals as “strategic,” projects targeting them tend to receive g