CNAE B — Extractive Industries

Implement structural and process solutions that substantially reduce the activity’s most significant material physical climate risks.

Where material physical climate risks are identified in relation to (a) heat, cold and water stress; (b) damage from floods, storms, mass movement and wildfires; (c) changes in marine conditions; and (d) multiple hazards, undertake a more detailed climate risk and vulnerability assessment including:

Screen the activity to identify which of these physical climate risks may affect its performance over its expected lifetime.

Where the activity is assessed as exposed to one or more of these hazards, assess climate risk and vulnerability to determine the materiality of the physical climate risks.

Assess adaptation solutions that can reduce the identified physical climate risk.

The climate risk and vulnerability assessment must be proportionate to the activity’s scale and expected lifetime:

For activities with an expected lifetime of less than ten years, use at least climate projections at the smallest appropriate scale.

For all other activities, use the highest available resolution and state-of-the-art projections across the range of future scenarios consistent with the activity’s expected lifetime, including at least ten-to-thirty-year projection scenarios for major investments.

Base climate projections and impact assessments on the best available practices and guidance, considering state-of-the-art science for vulnerability and risk analysis and related methodologies, consistent with the latest IPCC reports, peer-reviewed scientific publications and open-source or proprietary climate models.

Demonstrate that implemented adaptation solutions:

Do not adversely affect the adaptation efforts or physical climate resilience of other people, nature, cultural heritage, assets or other economic activities.

Favor nature-based solutions or blue or green infrastructure wherever possible.

Are consistent with local, sectoral, regional or national adaptation plans and strategies.

Are monitored and measured against predefined indicators, with corrective action where these are not met.

Comply with technical DNSH criteria where the physical solution is an activity for which this notebook specifies technical screening criteria.

Assess whether extraction significantly harms ecosystems and biodiversity using the following basic and specific criteria:

For mineral extraction, including continuous processing, already in operation, the activity is considered to do no significant harm if:

Environmental licensing, associated studies and monitoring determine that:

Within the project’s direct area of influence, there is no loss of biodiversity or ecosystem value considered irreplaceable at regional or national level.

Within its indirect area of influence, there are no negative, unmitigable impacts on protected areas or areas important for biodiversity. For this criterion:

Protected areas include all categories submitted by the Brazilian government to the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), maintained and operated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Areas important for biodiversity are priority conservation areas designated through Ministry of the Environment (MMA) acts, Ecological-Economic Zoning instruments, or other international instruments to which Brazil is a signatory that provide additional protection to land outside protected areas.

The activity causes no environmental damage or degradation as defined by the National Environmental Policy and the Environmental Crimes Law (Law 9,605/1998).

Administrative or judicial acts capable of producing effects on the mining company or project are considered when determining damage or degradation.

Operators and controlling entities estimate the costs of mine closure and impact remediation obligations, including environmental restoration required by Basic Environmental Plans. Changes to environmental conditions and requirements must be met, documented and communicated to the appropriate regulator. Resources must be provisioned for these obligations.

The mine closure plan meets the minimum technical criteria established in environmental licensing and associated studies and plans, ANM Resolution 68 of 30 April 2021 and ISO 24419-1:2023.

The degraded-area recovery plan follows the technical criteria of environmental licensing acts and associated studies and plans.

New mines and expansions require a new environmental licensing process under these criteria:

Where protected areas overlap, habitat conversion is considered to do no significant harm if:

For national, state or municipal forests, mining is compatible with the area’s founding legislation and decree and aligned with its management plan.

For Environmental Protection Areas and Areas of Relevant Ecological Interest, the founding act specifically addresses mining and any management plan is respected.

For Indigenous Lands, the National Congress has authorized mining to begin.

Delimited or ratified Indigenous Lands are recognized for this criterion.

Mining in other conservation-unit categories under Law 9,985/2000 is incompatible and therefore significantly harmful.

In areas important for biodiversity, habitat conversion and related impacts must be assessed through licensing and associated environmental studies, with all necessary mitigation and impact reduction measures ensuring no loss of biodiversity or ecosystem value considered irreplaceable at regional or national level.

Opening a new mine following removal of protected status or recategorization of an area incompatible with mining (Strict Protection Conservation Units, Extractive Reserves, Sustainable Development Reserves and Private Natural Heritage Reserves) is significantly harmful to biodiversity.

Exceptions apply where the change resulted from irreparable loss of biodiversity and ecosystem value caused by actions unrelated to mining.

Mine operations and processing do no significant harm if:

Toxic materials attributable to mining are not detected above regulatory limits outside the controlled mine environment or in its direct area of influence, distinguishing natural background conditions established by baseline studies.

The operator properly implements operational plans and programs required by environmental licensing, as demonstrated in required regular reports and routine checks by licensing authorities.

The operator proactively updates these plans and programs when needed and presents changes to regulators and stakeholders, ensuring the greatest possible public transparency.

For deep-sea mining:

Deep waters are regions below 200 metres beneath sea level.

Deep-sea mining and processing of minerals extracted there are considered significantly harmful until technical studies clarify operational limits and potential environmental impacts.

Tailings dams do no significant harm if:

They have operational management classification A or AA under ANM Resolution 95/2022.

They are not classified as high Risk Category (CRI).

The operator provides designs or works to decharacterize inactive tailings dams.

For biodiversity matters, the operator incorporates all principles of the 2020 Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM).

Siting new dams upstream of protected areas considers projected dam-break and flood areas to minimize environmental risk and demonstrates that Strict Protection Conservation Units, Extractive Reserves, Sustainable Development Reserves, Private Natural Heritage Reserves and Indigenous Lands will not be affected by a catastrophic event.

Assess significant harm to sustainable land use and forest conservation, management and sustainable use under these criteria:

The following are not considered significantly harmful:

Operating areas where vegetation clearance and soil removal have already occurred.

Expanding an existing mine or opening a new one without vegetation clearance or soil removal.

Activities directly affecting areas whose forest cover and soils are considered highly degraded.

In all other cases, the activity can still do no significant harm if:

Vegetation clearance prioritizes higher-value uses for the biomass and forest resources removed.

The company establishes a germplasm bank for restoration during mine operation or closure.

The company uses soil extraction and storage techniques for restoration during mine operation or closure.

Extractive activities do no significant harm to water and marine resources if they:

Publish transparent, auditable annual reports demonstrating compliance with all environmental licensing conditions for each mine.

Reports include effluent discharge or leaching profiles and demonstrate compliance with CONAMA Resolution 430/2011.

In high-water-stress areas mapped by Brazil’s National Water Agency, or high/extremely high stress areas in the World Resources Institute Water Risk Atlas (Kuzma et al., 2023), use closed-loop water technologies with at least 80% efficiency for extraction and continuous processing.

Ensure effluent discharges do not affect special-class waters or downgrade other water classes under CONAMA Resolutions 357/2005, 397/2008, 410/2009 and 430/2011.

Cause no environmental damage or degradation under the National Environmental Policy and Environmental Crimes Law (Law 9,605/1998).

Consider administrative or judicial acts capable of producing effects on the company or mining project when determining damage or degradation.

Have operators and controlling entities estimate mine closure and remediation costs, including water management and protection measures in Basic Environmental Plans.

Meet, document and communicate changes in environmental conditions and requirements to the appropriate regulator and provision resources for these obligations.

Have a mine closure plan meeting the minimum technical criteria of environmental licensing and associated studies and plans, ANM Resolution 68 of 30 April 2021 and ISO 24419-1:2023, to maintain and stabilize regional water resources.

Selling ore into value chains is considered significantly harmful to the circular economy where:

Meeting industrial demand with perfect or near-perfect recycled substitutes is technically and socioeconomically feasible.

Ore sales into those specific value chains compromise the use of recycled substitutes.

Applying these criteria depends on available national or regional assessments of value-chain circularity and the technical and socioeconomic feasibility of perfect recycled substitutes.

Extractive activities do no significant harm to environmental resources if they:

Publish transparent, auditable annual reports demonstrating compliance with all mine-specific environmental licensing conditions.

In regions subject to prolonged drought or operations emitting large volumes of particulate matter, assess and adopt measures to eliminate or minimize airborne particulate emissions.

Do not use or release into soil or air substances restricted or classified as hazardous because of:

Persistence and environmental toxicity.

Bioaccumulation and environmental toxicity.

Persistence, bioaccumulation and environmental toxicity.

Carcinogenicity, mutagenicity or reproductive toxicity.

Scientifically evidenced endocrine-disrupting properties.

Cause no environmental damage or degradation under the National Environmental Policy and Environmental Crimes Law (Law 9,605/1998).

Consider administrative or judicial acts capable of producing effects on the company or mining project when determining damage or degradation.

Have operators and controlling entities estimate mine closure and remediation costs, including containment, stabilization or decontamination measures under Basic Environmental Plans.

Meet, document and communicate changes to environmental conditions and requirements to the appropriate regulator and provision resources for these obligations.

Have a mine closure plan meeting minimum technical criteria in environmental licensing and associated studies and plans, ANM Resolution 68 of 30 April 2021 and ISO 24419-1:2023, to contain, stabilize or decontaminate affected areas.

Annex A1: Criteria for doing no significant harm to socioeconomic objective 9.

A company or project is considered to do no significant harm if it:

Documents dialogue with affected people and fair, legitimate agreements on compensation, consistent with the National Policy on the Rights of Populations Affected by Dams (PNAB), Law 14,755/2023 and its regulations where applicable. Evidence includes meeting minutes, public consultation reports, formal agreements and audiovisual records.

Publicly discloses worker mortality and fatality indicators and the number of contracted companies on its official website, in its annual report or both, ensuring broad public access.

Has and adequately communicates, including to trade union representatives, a formal occupational risk management program prepared by a qualified technical team and implemented under the organization’s responsibility, with prevention measures and specific plans appropriate to its activities’ inherent risks, in accordance with current regulatory standards.