Brazilian pulp and paper company Klabin promotes 'green' image despite mining in

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The Brazilian pulp company, Klabin SA, has registered mining interests in more than areas located in three of the country's states.
Over the past decade, Klabin, the Brazilian pulp company, has extracted minerals worth almost million reais (more than $ million), but with mining accounting for less than a tenth of its annual revenue, the company is not legally obliged to officially declare its mining operations.

Klabin has been searching for minerals in protected areas in the states of Paraná and São Paulo without notifying environmental agencies; Mineral prospecting could threaten Brazil's Atlantic rainforest and the livelihoods of quilombola communities.

Companies that have invested in Klabin, which include the world's largest asset manager BlackRock, high-profile banks and pension funds, have mostly declined to comment on Klabin's involvement in mining.

With the motto “Invest in Klabin and build a sustainable future” and a long list of awards for its commitment to preserving the environment , the Brazilian pulp and paper manufacturer Klabin SA attracted atten  Special Data  tion and resources in the financial market. By the end of , the company had at least $ million in stocks and bonds sold to of its largest global financiers and saw the number of people buying its shares on the Brazilian stock market rise from , to ,



What investors are probably unaware or unaware of is that Klabin is also a mining company with registered interests in areas in three Brazilian states. In the last years, it has extracted substances worth million reais (US$ million) on the market, without taking inflation into account. They also ignore or are unaware that part of the mineral deposits that the paper company exploits or has requested to exploit represent threats to environmental preservation areas, water sources and the territories of traditional Brazilian peoples.

According to the rules of Brazil's Financial Conduct Authority (CVM), transactions that represent less than % of a listed company's revenue do not need to be publicly declared. Therefore, neither Klabin's financial statements nor its sustainability reports nor the prospectuses of the bonds it places on the market—main information channels for investors—include mining among its activities.

“Mining is not related to the business and financial income of the company,” the company states, and therefore there would be “no indication to disclose” it in the financial reports. However, the company admits to using gravel, clay and flint extracted from mineral deposits in road paving and maintenance to improve truck traffic in its operating areas. Read the full statement here . Klabin also highlights that mining is listed in the company's statutes as one of its activities.

Still, financial market commentators criticize what they see as a lack of transparency. “When an investor buys a bond issued by Klabin, who does he buy it from? From the company's pulp division or the mining division? How can a person evaluate whether or not the company has sustainable policies if some of its activities are not clear?” asks Luiz Macahyba, a researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro specializing in financial regulation.

According to the Mining Observatory, the industry is one of the largest emitters of CO in the country. But Klabin's greenhouse gas inventory does not indicate the magnitude of emissions from its mining arm. “Klabin's emissions are calculated within the categories defined by the methodology, which separates the types of processes,” explains the company, adding that a third-party audit is carried out, “which guarantees the accuracy and credibility of the information.” .

“From the perspective of climate change and traditional peoples' rights and transparency, disclosing information about all of a company's operations is much better than not disclosing it,” says Moira Birss, director of climate finance at Amazon Watch, an international organization. that works to protect the environment . The Amazon jungle and its towns.

Unauthorized surveying
Mining applications currently submitted by Klabin are concentrated in the states of Paraná (  ) and Santa Catarina (  ), according to public data provided by Brazil's National Mining Agency (ANM).

In Paraná, at least two regions where Klabin has mining interests overlap an important preservation area, although the state environmental agency, the Water and Land Institute (Instituto Água e Terra, IAT), is not aware of the operations.