2010 Articles

Promoting Social Dialogue in the Mining Sector in the State of Pará, Brazil

Cornejo, Noelia; Kells, Claire; de Zuñiga, Tania Ortiz; Roen, Stacey; Thompson, Brandon

In 2006 Instituto Observatório Social (IOS) and Centro de Estudos das Negociações Internacionais (CAENI) embarked on a research and field project to study the labor situation as well as the environmental impact of five aluminum companies in the north of Brazil. While preliminary findings indicated that companies adhered to labor laws and regulations and invested in technological improvements in order to tackle environmental issues, there remained significant resource inequalities across stakeholders in the aluminum value chain. Nevertheless, both local government and civil society often remained acquiescent to the status quo established by companies. IOS and CAENI identified a need for further research on the impact of mining and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on local development and sustainability issues, as well as Brazil’s role in the global aluminum value chain. They invited a team of students from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) to research the feasibility of a multi-stakeholder engagement or social dialogue, by studying and analyzing the aluminum value chain and performing a stakeholder mapping in the affected areas.
IOS/CAENI can act as a monitor of a social dialogue across the aluminum value chain in Brazil, and as such, help stakeholders to identify opportunities to maximize positive externalities across the aluminum value chain, while ensuring sustainable development. IOS/CAENI will be essential in bridging the informational gap existing between local and global networks, taking full advantage of the international projection of the aluminum value chain. Finally, the team hopes the different stakeholders will use this report as a strategy for building stakeholder engagement into their own analysis.