The Intersection of Environmental and Human Exploitation in Peru

Abstract

Environmental and human exploitation are connected and occurring around the world due in large part to the mining of rare earth metals. In places like Brazil, the Congo and Peru in modern-day slave labor fuels mining camps, while degrading the quality of local fishing and agricultural environments. Lithium mining in Brazilian rainforest has been responsible for 10% of deforestation in the Amazon, an area twice the size of the State of Delaware. Cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been linked to human rights abuses and child labor. Illegal mining in Peru has resulted in environmental devastation and human exploitation. This report focuses on illegal mining in Peru, focusing on poor environmental practice is connected to forced labor, human trafficking and the ruin of indigenous food and farming systems. It highlights the issues alongside market-based solutions that can improve environmental quality, human dignity and stable economies in these fragile ecosystems.