Human Rights & Environmental HARM
Together with Colombian partners and Christian Aid, we are supporting indigenous & Afro-Colombian communities fight back against the extensive harms from the infamous Cerrejón mine.
The Cerrejón mine in Colombia, one of the largest open-pit mines in the world, is linked to the forced displacement of indigenous Wayúu and Afro-Colombian people and widespread, persistent, and extreme pollution of air and water, and human rights abuses.
Case Status: New complaint against UK body overseeing multinationals’ human rights accountability over serious failures
GLAN and partners have written to Jonathan Reynolds, UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, to alert the government over the UK NCP’s failure to investigate a serious complaint against Anglo American. Anglo American, the UK based multinational is accused of contributing to severe environmental harms, health and human rights violations at the Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia – one of the world’s largest open-pit coal mines, renowned for its damaging practices and responsible for causing significant harms to indigenous communities.
The letter to Jonathan Reynolds is the latest action taken to seek justice for the communities harmed by the practices at the Cerrejón mine.
For over two decades, Anglo American co-owned the Cerrejón Mine along with Swiss and Australian mining companies, Glencore and BHP, before selling its shares in 2022. A year before it sold its stake in the mine, seven civil society organisations, including GLAN, filed a complaint with the UK NCP. Two years later the NCP responded in a draft Final Statement to this complaint stating that it had no jurisdiction over Anglo American as the company had divested from the mine, despite being a co-owner for 20 years, during which times serious harms were committed. In finding so, the UK NCP blatantly misapplied the OECD Guidelines. Since then, it has failed to issue a Final Statement altogether and has been repeatedly ignoring the NGOs’ request to that effect. In complete disregard for its duties under the Guidelines, the UK NCP has simply stopped engaging with the complaint and to date, the proceedings are still pending with no sign of progress.
The OECD Guidelines forbid companies to evade responsibility for contributing to severe environmental and human rights violations simply by selling their shares in the company causing those harms.
The letter urges the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to rectify the errors made by the UK NCP and act to ensure better compliance with OECD Guidelines. It warns that without robust corporate accountability mechanisms the UK risks becoming a haven for companies engaging in environmental and human rights violations abroad.
Photo: Open cast coal mining in section of Cerrejon Mine
The Cerrejón mine
People living in La Guajira in Colombia face forced displacement and environmental destruction because of the operation of the Cerrejón mine. The mine is owned by Anglo America, BHP, and Glencore. Irish energy company ESB, like other energy providers, has bought millions of tonnes of coal from Cerrejón.
The OECD Guidelines
All OECD countries must apply and implement their Multi-National Enterprise, which are certain minimum standards of business conduct. They include respect for human rights and the environment. National Contact Points (NCPs) oversee companies’ compliance.
OUR CASE
On 19 January 2021 GLAN filed simultaneous complaints to the NCPs in UK, Switzerland and Australia where Cerrejón’s parent companies are based. We also filed two complaints to the Irish NCP about ESB’s relationship with Cerrejón and the sales wing of Cerrjon known as CMC which is operates from Dublin. We argue that the mine must progressively closed down and its impacts remedied.
MEDIATION
In the summer of 2024 we mediated with Irish ESB over their purchases of coal from the Cerrejón mine, asking them to stop all imports immediately.
This was the first time that the communities affected by the mine directly engaged with purchasers of Cerrejón coal.
WATCH: LOCAL PEOPLE speak out about the Cerrejón mine with a message to Ireland
Documents
GLAN Press Release (International)
Parent Company Complaint (English)
Parent Company Complaint (Spanish)
Electricity Supply Board Complaint (full text)
Partners
The Cerrejón mine in Colombia is linked to the forced displacement of indigenous Wayúu and Afro-Colombian communities and widespread, persistent, and extreme pollution of air and water. High concentrations of harmful metals, which can cause diseases such as cancer, have been found by Colombia’s Constitutional Court to exist in the blood of those living near to the mine. Studies have shown that air pollution is driving elevated levels of cellular damage, in turn raising the risk of cancer, DNA damage, and chromosomal instability for those living in the region.
In 2020, Cerrejón’s operations were denounced by several prominent UN human rights experts. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment said that the case was ‘one of the most disturbing situations’ he had encountered in his time in the post.
Cerrejón is co-owned by three mining giants: Anglo America, BHP, and Glencore. These companies are based in the UK, Australia, and Switzerland. Cerrejón also has links to Ireland, which were set out in a detailed report by Christian Aid in February 2020. Irish state-owned energy company ESB has bought millions of tonnes of coal from Cerrejón over the past two decades, and this relationship was recently criticised by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Legal Case
All OECD member countries must implement the MNE Guidelines. The Guidelines set certain minimum standards for multinational enterprises. These include respecting internationally recognised human rights, avoiding adverse environmental impacts, and disclosing certain information about business conduct. Companies’ compliance with the Guidelines is subject to government-backed oversight by National Contact Points (NCPs) in every OECD country.
In January 2021, GLAN submitted complaints to the Australian, Swiss, and UK NCPs about Anglo America, BHP, and Glencore. By causing adverse human rights and environmental impacts, these parent companies have failed to meet the minimum standards set by the Guidelines.
The complaints outline how the Cerrejón mine, one of the largest open-pit mines in the world, is linked to the forced displacement of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities and the widespread, persistent and extreme pollution of the air and water in the vicinity of the mine. High concentrations of harmful metals, which can cause diseases such as cancer, were found by Colombia’s Constitutional Court to exist in the blood of those living nearby.
The complaints point to Cerrejón’s failure to comply with multiple Colombian court judgments against it. In September, several prominent UN human rights experts called for some of the mine’s operations to be suspended following a request to intervene by Wayuu indigenous people. We allege that the parent companies of the Cerrejón mine, as its joint owners, are responsible under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises for the harms caused by its operations. Water shortages in La Guajira, which have been caused by Cerrejón’s coal mining, are now being exacerbated by global climate change which is in part caused by coal combustion. Cerrejón’s activities thus combine to heighten the severity of the adverse impacts felt in La Guajira.
GLAN also submitted complaints to the Irish NCP about CMC and ESB. CMC is the company that sells and markets all of Cerrejón’s coal. It has contributed to the harms caused by Cerrejón. ESB is an Irish state-owned energy company which has bought millions of tonnes of coal from Cerrejón. It is directly linked to the mine through their business relationship and has failed to mitigate abuses in its supply chain.
Next steps
In order to comply with the Guidelines, GLAN submits that the three mining giants must progressively close down the mine, restore the environment in the surrounding area to the fullest extent possible, and provide financial compensation to the affected communities. CMC must stop selling Cerrejón coal. ESB must terminate its relationship with Cerrejón permanently. We are now heading towards mediation with the Irish NCP.
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