Vale is among the top five on a list of 400 global companies in eight sectors evaluated for their efforts to protect the environment and biodiversity. The ranking was released by the World Benchmarking Alliance and it will be presented on December 8 at the UN Biodiversity Conference, COP 15, which is taking place in Montreal, Canada. Only six of the evaluated companies are Brazilian. Vale is the highest rated Brazilian company, occupying fifth place. In the Metals and Mining sector, the company ranks fourth out of 97 analyzed companies.

This is the first time that this ranking has been published by the WBA, a nonprofit organization that represents more than 200 global organizations and companies with the aim of building a movement to measure business’ impacts on biodiversity and encourage a reduction in these impacts through projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“This result shows that we are on the right track toward building more sustainable mining. We are a company that works with nature. We seek to directly integrate our business with the environment and care for people. We know we still have a long journey ahead and we will only be successful if we work together with society, suppliers, clients, governments, other companies and third sector organizations,” said Vale’s executive vice president for Sustainability, Maria Luiza Paiva.

The ranking considered Vale’s forest restoration initiatives, its research and development work to protect the biodiversity of the Amazon biome and its engagement in the fight to uphold the rights of indigenous peoples.

The company has a target of restoring and protecting 500,000 hectares of forest by 2030. In the last two years, it has restored 6,000 hectares through social and environmental impact businesses and it has formed partnerships with seven Conservation Areas to protect 115,000 hectares of forest.