Vale S.A.

Does the core business genuinely avoid or reduce emissions, or build climate resilience? Share of revenue that is actually 'green'. Fossil-dependent models score low.

Vale's core iron ore business feeds carbon-intensive steelmaking responsible for ~458.5 Mt CO2e in Scope 3 annually; its iron ore briquette and high-grade ore products can marginally reduce customer emissions intensity but do not structurally avoid or cut emissions at meaningful scale, and rising production volumes are expected to push emissions higher in coming years.

Credible, science-based targets (SBTi), a real net-zero plan with progress to date, and CDP disclosure — not just a dated press release.

Vale has set a 33% absolute Scope 1&2 reduction by 2030 (vs 2017 baseline, described as aligned with below-2°C but not 1.5°C/SBTi-validated), net-zero Scope 1&2 by 2050, and only a 15% Scope 3 net reduction by 2035 — a weak Scope 3 ambition given its 458 Mt exposure — and crucially, ~81.5% of the Scope 1&2 target progress to date is largely driven by lower production volumes rather than structural decarbonization, with the company itself warning emissions will rise as production increases.

Operational footprint, labour and social practices, and governance quality across the company's own operations and supply chain.

Vale publishes detailed ESG commitments including GISTM implementation across all tailings dams, a 500,000-hectare forest protection target (50% achieved by 2024), indigenous community consultation protocols, and gender diversity targets, but the Brumadinho (270 fatalities, 2019) and Samarco Fundão (19 fatalities, 2015) dam disasters represent severe, ongoing social and environmental liabilities that weigh heavily against these operational improvements.

Quality of disclosure, independent third-party verification, and how much hard data backs the company's claims.

Vale demonstrates above-average mining-sector transparency: its 2024 GHG inventory was independently third-party audited, it was the first Brazilian company to voluntarily adopt ISSB (IFRS S1/S2) sustainability disclosure standards two years ahead of the mandatory deadline, it discloses an ESG Databook, and it files annual CDP responses — though the absence of a confirmed CDP letter grade in public sources and the lack of SBTi validation on its Scope 3 target limit the transparency score.

Controversies, litigation, pollution, fossil-fuel lobbying, conflict-zone involvement and governance scandals. Higher means cleaner.

Vale's integrity score is severely penalized by two catastrophic tailings dam failures: the 2019 Brumadinho disaster (270 fatalities, 315 km of river impacted) and the 2015 Samarco Fundão collapse (19 fatalities, ~US$31.7 billion Definitive Settlement under negotiation with Brazilian government); additionally, the SEC filed a securities fraud lawsuit against Vale in 2022 over misleading pre-Brumadinho dam-safety disclosures, which Vale settled for US$56 million in 2023, and Brazil's CVM continues its own investigation into Vale's dam disclosure practices.