Indicators

In addition to setting environmental and social goals, we seek to align the sustainability performance of the various business areas to their teams’ variable remuneration, while also taking into account economic and operational factors.

The KPIs are part of the variable remuneration of all Vale employees and impact all hierarchical levels, including the CEO.

Advances in Public Commitments

Our commitments are connected to the UN's 2030 Agenda and in line with global trends. Major advances:

2030 Commitments

1 Base year 2017 emissions would total 12.3 million tCO2e considering manganese and coal divestments.

2 2018 base year emissions of 585 million tons of CO2e are reduced to 568 million CO2e, considering the divestment of manganese and coal assets, realized in 2022.

3 An increase in Vale's Scope 3 emissions is expected as a result of increased sales volumes due to a prospect of increased demand for our products, as indicated in the 2021 financial report.

4 In 2021, the way to monitor the renewable electricity target in Brazil was changed from % renewable self-production to % renewable consumption.

5 The percentage of renewable electricity varies from year to year depending on the certificates obtained and the electricity generation matrix of each country in which we operate.

6 With the goal being reached in 2021, a new commitment will be published in 2022.

7 From 2022 on, Vale will monitor the Social Ambition indicator replacing the Socioeconomic Contribution indicator.

Other Vale commitments

Social KPIs

Short term KPIs:

2019

Indicator
Carry out a self-assessment of the risk of human rights violations

Goal
100% operations and complexes with self-assessment

Result
positivo

Indicator
Carry out a Critical Issues Treatment Plan

Goal
100% of Critical Issues with Treatment Plans

Result
positivo

2021

Indicator
Evolve in implementing the Social Performance Model

Goal
Social processes being implemented

Result
In progress

2022

Indicator
Reduce events with community members

Goal
Reduce by 10%

Result
Not started

 Year
Indicator
Goal
Result
2019
Carry out a self-assessment of the risk of human rights violations
100% operations and complexes with self-assessment
Carry out a Critical Issues Treatment Plan
100% of Critical Issues with Treatment Plans
2021
Evolve in implementing the Social Performance Model
Social processes being implemented
In progress
2022
Reduce events with community members
Reduce by 10%
Not started

Medium term KPI:¹

2026

Indicator
Implementing Community Relationship Plans (CRP) in priority communities

Goal
100% priority communities with PRCs

Result
69% (2021)

Year
Indicator
Goal
Result
2026
Implementing Community Relationship Plans (CRP) in priority communities
100% priority communities with CRPs
69% (2021)

Long Term KPIs:²

2030

Indicator
Lift people out of extreme poverty

Goal
500,000 people lifted out of extreme poverty

Result
In progress


 

Indicator
Improve the position in the social requirements of the main external assessments

Goal
Being in the TOP 3 on the social requirements of the main reviews

Result
In progress

 

Indicator
Contribute with IPTC³ in promoting their rights, valuing culture and ethnodevelopment

Goal
Indigenous communities neighboring Vale operations with UNDRIP Rights Plans4

Result
In progress

Year
Indicator
Goal
Result
2030
Lift people out of extreme poverty
500,000 people lifted out of extreme poverty
In progress
Improve the position in the social requirements of the main external assessments
Being in the TOP 3 on the social requirements of the main reviews
In progress
Contribute with IPTC³ in promoting their rights, valuing culture and ethnodevelopment
Indigenous communities neighboring Vale operations with UNDRIP Rights Plans4
In progress

1 See www.vale.com/web/esg/impact-to-communities

2 See www.vale.com/web/esg/our-strategy-and-commitments

3 Indigenous peoples and traditional communities

4 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

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 2021

[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:

 

Brazil

Canada

Indonesia

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.

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Policies and Corporate Documents

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Our Strategy and Commitments

Learn about the pillars that guide our strategy

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