Mining Industry and the Sustainable Development Goals in Brazil’s Amazon

Abstract

In developing nations such as Brazil, the mining industry generates benefits such as jobs and income generation, but also environmental degradation. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), implemented in 2015 by the United Nations, provide a framework through which mining companies and the government can guide their actions to be environmentally sustainable, economically responsible, and socially sensitive. There is an urgent need for strengthening the commitment of mining companies and municipal governments in Brazil to the SDGs, because of the severe environmental and social impacts of the industry, especially in the Brazilian Amazon region. The present research aimed at analyzing the relationship between the mining industry and some SDGs in the municipalities of Parauapebas and Canaã dos Carajás, the most prominent mining municipalities in Brazil’s Amazon. It is discussed that the municipal governments in both municipalities need to significantly improve their use of mining taxes, to effectively engage with the SDGs and improve local quality of life in the long term. Mining environmental impacts negatively and significantly affect people’s lives in the Amazon region, especially in indigenous and rural communities. Businesses, governments, and civil society must join forces to monitor each other to achieve together the SDGs.