void special security forces to the area. please say the shooter may be among the debt. that's all we have time for docked film is up next with the dark side of the energy transition. and if you want more news, take a look at our website, dw, dot com and check out our social media channels. huddle you need is details. new news. i'm pablo police in brain for me and the team here. thanks for watching. take care and i'll see you said ah ah linda. oh, what people have to say matters to us. ah, that's why we listened to their stories. sh reporter. every

weekend on d w. ah copper for years demand has been soaring. it is, after all, the raw material of the energy transition. one of the world's largest copper processors is available, headquartered, and humble of germany. the company claims to care about protecting human rights and the environment. but does that also apply in south america? where much of the copper comes from? how does mining impact the environment and people's lives? new methods for mining copper have been developed in canada. there are plans to

once again mine copper in germany, but is environmentally friendly mining even possible? or is the energy transition dirtier than imagined? like visit a friend who installed solar panels on his garage? he strives to lead an environmentally friendly life. what does it cover your energy needs? yeah, as if as organ ones, male: yes, we generate more than enough and it covers our household electricity completely. and we also charge our electric car within a yell to them. it's not bad. what strikes me, however, is the number of cables required to make the system work? ah, and the cables are mostly made of copper. demand

for this metal is higher than ever. solar energy in particular needs copper, the metal last a long time and is highly efficient at conducting electricity. wind power also depends on it because turbines contain tons of copper. and electric vehicles are the 3rd largest consumer of copper. they require about 4 times more copper than internal combustion engines. europe's largest copper processor is the company albus located in humboldt who this recycles copper and it imports the raw material from various mines around the world . the company says it prizes transparency, deputy plant manager, access bond, walked us through production. after researching the locations of the mines,

we were most interested in the question of sustainability. oh, come on. yeah. where's most of your or from loving friends are predominantly or typically it comes from south america and most common supplies are chilly peru and also brazil. but we process quite a lot of wars. we have up to 100 oil concentrates as well so that, but we also makes the concentrates here in order to ensure the most uniform process possible. the demand for copper is so great that recycling can't keep up. 70 per cent must be extracted. the largest copper mines are in south america in chile, especially these days. how do you ensure that other countries comply with your labor and environmental standards as it came out of clicked on?

this is an issue that's very close to our hearts. here. it is very important to us as customers to accept responsibility for this without so we've developed a very clear criteria that we feel bound to it and hold al supplies to as well. one of the v o, and this is something we monitor through local business relationship here, but also by committing ourselves to international standards and requiring our customers to do the same on that's been one of the quote off of that sounds commendable. but according to our research in south america, the reality doesn't seem to quite match up. in march 2022, we set off to the heart of copper mining chile every year, 5500000 tons of copper, our mind. and she lay alone, who exactly out who best buys copper from as a company secret. it is only thanks to u. s. customs documents that we learned that albert has made purchases from the

largest mine operator and sheila, the state own company corporate as your national little cobra, that sheila or co delco for short. this is where our reporting led us the largest mine in the world operated by could elko, it's located near kalama, in the middle of july as a comma desert ah, in kalama, close to the mines, we meet your hands, housing, a journalist living and she lake. he was willing to help us with our investigation . ah, the mines are about 4 kilometers north of the city. the largest of them is juki come at that our destination the residential areas along the route are deserted. houses explained that's due to the terrible air

pollution juki comma is one of the biggest copper mines in the world, covering a massive area around 300000 tons of copper, our mind here annually, both underground and on the surface. housing wanted to introduce us to people from the region. it's not by chance that we found ourselves in a cemetery. ah, this is where we met the head of the miners union miguel, for the man this. his father also worked in the mine. at the age of 12, his little brother fell into a bore hole and died. the mine has not relinquished its hold over him ever since. it was over the sailors check up all the more of the sierra la

la la, fetch her there for this is where we commemorate the dead miners of topeka mata a so wet rocky these land made and continue to make great sacrifices for the copper industry under their own don't glance like a sacrifice that's resulted in one thing in particular. let em and their money a very short expectancy, i get the law mean at all. and canada o many miners die before they have the chance to retire. and fernandez told us that infant mortality is also higher than elsewhere in the country. by chance we met me with that he latha who lost her daughter more than 40 years ago on the day she was born even. ah, yes, legacy vineyard said cheeky. come on to his aunt pollution is responsible for the

deaths of all these children. hardly any one can sleep at night, she feel like you're suffocating. i myself got thyroid cancer. well any more with the company, co delco which runs the chicky, come at that mine is owned by the chilean state critic say that could alco acts like a state within a state with its own rights and laws. we requested permission to film and conduct an interview, but were unsuccessful. they told us they didn't have the time. even union leader fernandez is not allowed on the premises. he's banned from the site because he is openly criticized could elko idea. it's impossible, and it has a trade unionist to go on the doors of kudos to remain close to me just as they are for us journalists, our holiday. oh, to the workers who toil away here. i'm not even employed by co delco,

but my subcontractors think that will feel that only 30 percent of the workers are employed directly, isn't there? hello, there. a them the 70 percent officially work for subcontract ursula them but as a candidate with my laser piedmont, establishing contact with the workers proved difficult. we tried pulling a bus of employees to the mining town of kalama. we hoped to start a conversation with nobody wanted to talk to us in public, but one worker agreed to give us an interview at his home, under the condition that we didn't show his face. the fear of could delco looms large

in man. oh god, one of the god when they would track me down and destroy me the ladder, if they'd also get rid of the entire sub contractor, i work for gay. i think i'm was around the workers who could elko employees directly. oh, where some kind of space helmet with a built in breathing device. oh who it and unlock are we on the other hand, he was only get simple masks nosing to learning that the later on this was a sudden all of them don't. but all the cordell co employees have expensive cut resistance safety gloves, antique or therapy ward bay and a little by we only wear simple leather wines, would you? oh they. busy got her from one hour long. if you do, are you afraid of getting sick in from austin? she? yes, of course. my grandfather died of lung cancer, but i have to feed my family somehow. marcella union leader miguel hernandez told

us that in the future could elko plans to employ only 10 percent of its workforce. all the rest are to come from subcontractors. i asked fernandez about a whistleblower portal on albus his website. how easy is it for workers to lodge a complaint about cadell co fernandez gave it a try it's so of if you see of it at all, it's really difficult to navigate the site or even find a link to the complaints page. oh yes, a but i won't allow her to thank her for a worker with basic technical skills. if it's impossible, on television or sit and agular, well aliana. ah, you got a link then you can't even get to ruby's his complaint page. i know i louis

we made a note to ask that hobbies about its complaints procedure once back in germany. the work and health conditions in the mind near kalama appear disastrous. but what about the impact on the environment? sick clouds of smoke drift from the mine into the city. how can it be that a state owned company could so blatantly be polluting the environment? we met with someone who claims to have evidence said a huge a moral is a lawyer for environmental law. he represents many indigenous groups who live in the area, dividend kalama, so know a lot that people in kalama continuously exposed to find dust pollution at the elbow. people know in got i have april, i constantly developing severe respiratory diseases that the or dying suddenly of

cancer f i a sealer, i will that men think almost american will canstio number one cause of death in our region. his cancer means he balco selim, where the esl can sit. we then discovered why he wanted to meet here at the border of the canal co site. this was once a salt lake. for decades, the mine operator hidalgo has been dumping waste water from the mines here. it's expanded to the point where it's now barely 5 kilometers from the closest to village. ah. ah, the village is called shoot you and was once an important oasis on the legendary inca trail. the copper mines use up a lot of water so much so that most of the rivers here have dried up only the rio loa still hold some water. so when and when i pull your

consent, that multiple studies have found over 66 different substances contaminating the river one into a quote toxic. all of them originate from mining lemon. though lament the cup of mining has poised in the entire region that we build. you at that many on the 9th on the rio, noah is the most important water source and the other coma desert. and yet it is said to be the most polluted river and she lake. we took a sample to bring back for analysis in germany. the lawyer took us to talk to one of his clients, jani velasquez is 57 years old, or audio said, my mom, he is li cannon. ty, also known as at the camino lawyer sent here to a moral, is representing him and his people against the state and the mining company called elko. i with well what i think the

electrical today a like i say if they are there is simply no water left for agriculture or lima. montoya with this is a huge problem for all of us today. yeah, my family has raised cattle for generations. reality to day. all we can do is try to farm, but even that is barely possible for the good. now. yes, coffee under cassette, unbelievable to to 1st the state took land from indigenous people and now they're water. when a like i love it, i say low, this is the school of my last cow, yasser ain't daniel. it died 20 years ago. as the human a waste is started drawing out a letter gonna, they don't. e jour gigabyte hangs here as a reminder that our water was stolen from us a lot in it and look was so equal. ah, that you can come onto mine requires an enormous amount of water. figures from 2011

found the mind consumed more than 60000000 cubic meters of water and a year, leaving almost nothing for the people. ah, the village of cooper is located close to a spring. locals grew corn here for centuries. now there is nothing left but sand and dust vivian door, no super known me. didn't mean it or thank we live in cadell coast. huge mining area, a c number. what does a plan for you heard? you know, so there will be more am, but i think our mentor le, but as you can see, say we live in extreme poverty, so it might not be fit in caea gay, gay, your know, i'm for the i said not up or not so that all you see on the guess at the ample

and the good, i'm sorry. i i no need to know about the po delco does nothing to mitigate the harm the company has done to us. yes, the city ah, in 2021. the state owned company called alco saw its profits increase considerably compared to the previous year. raking in more than $20000000000.00 for the people of cooper. the situation is desperate. etiquette copa was born here. she showed us the spring. ah yeah. what i see at that need that, oh my only 7 leaders of water come down here per 2nd and soon it will be only 3 leaders in the filter and then they'll let everything dry. have completely i. yeah,

we don't want them stealing our water. they must stop so that nature can recover their medicine. but i get the glass they used to consider bundle. most residents have long since moved away from cooper. mm. mm hm. we drove back to kalama. most of the people here make their living from the copper mine in one way or another, but not every one approves of what is happening here. we got a tip to visit a whistleblower who worked for canal co until 2015, measuring the air pollution. he showed us measurements from 2021. i know lee me this income but as you compared to the standards in europe by the limits. and sheila are a joke and only i who went, did they oh, syndicate more to mike to him. their lack of the national standards aren't even

respected here, miss yolk, unless you love e. s. eagle in and those are already 115 percent higher than the european. why? the boston? yep. alex you mentioned was sent against sibyl shantel and norma. and one of them at the debt, but the police, well this graph shows the concentration of arsenic a level, but i see on douglas anthem shown that said the red line method up is the european limit equal, but elbow under my little beer at well as say the red bar is a sports field in the on the black one is in elementary school to center, able to feel yet to see exceed the limits by more than 200 percent muslim rochelle don't shut the percent plane, although the us quit his job. because despite the alarming levels of air pollution could elko chose to do nothing. for years, these measurements have been ignored. children play on the sports field every day and attend school on the same grounds where the measuring station is located.

and as a result, children like alejandro or son don't son continue to be born? ah yeah. amy who i thought my son gaston was born with 12 fingers and 12 toes a level. he was also diagnosed with autism when he was still a toddler, highly man, because he did not speak or eat and they had really microsoft to control. give her the perio sienna. we went to a doctor who tried to help him eat al, you get up. we are on given i think that doctor was even silva who moved to kalama 18 years ago to investigate the effects of pollution on children. he became a friend to the family for i didn't mother you know, which are to have all said yes. okay. to get your own back, we suspect that environmental pollution is harming many children while still in the

womb, lavinia and it us who i on the 11th, i mean a sure it more yes kuntal or my the alley and the air is too heavily polluted with heavy metals mean it, i like the sagas, are you still? yeah. okay. and what channel truck? basically, these toxic substances affect the development of the brain, especially in children who severed only, i am fed a may. there are many diseases here that are linked to pollution. i guess we all know that particularly it's no accident that the families of fidel k buffy is living santiago and not hear some via the us. and don family doesn't have the means to leave the city. all they can do is cling to hope that something will change ah, that shook each month on mine is not only a problem for the people of kalama. the oars are transported across the other, comma, on their way to the port city of until august that from here the copper or is shipped

all over the world, including to hum book ah, this hospital serves the region of until of augusta, which also includes kalama, people call the road connecting the 2 cities that camino them with the road of death. we scheduled an interview with dr. google benny. this cassette is the 64 year old, his head of anatomical pathology. he mainly studies cancerous tumors or to hear tongue mitchell my laura cancer rates in this region are on average 5 to 7 times higher than in the rest of the country. yes, overall, the disease is caused primarily by the heavy arsenic contamination in kalama. and

until august, after i get there, got a 2017 study conducted by the university of berkeley in the united states found that 5 to 6 times more people develop bladder cancer and onto for august that than elsewhere in sheila and the mortality rate from kidney cancer. has increased by 75 percent in the last 9 years. so increment feldwood, exposure to heavy metals is steadily increasing. this will cause the mortality rate to rise even more in the future. yes. will know my partner kilogram o mentor, left off if you wipe your hand over a window sill. for example, don't all bustle a mom. you can see clearly retrieve all the dark heavy metals in the dust. alpha i goes from to contains lead, copper, arsenic for the whole periodic table, up and down a fairly gl gordon, paula del. every day we drove to the port of unto of augusta where the order is loaded. the dark disease inducing dust is everywhere.

how is it fair that in this region, local suffer to provide the raw material needed for the energy transition? while elsewhere people can consume green electricity with a clear conscience. it's a troubling dynamic. we returned to germany. in hamburg, we presented of all this is deputy plant manager oxide bond with the results of our investigation. lucy, keep the cancer rate in kalama. the closest city to juki come out that is 7 times higher than elsewhere and she lane once she did the tire in from our phone to the time to can i can't confirm over a few the detailed information you've shed

a mock and they may be causes that need to be examined for by that, but i would like to point out that we at a rubiser attached great importance to ensuring good conditions for our suppliers all throughout the supply chain and lung telephone cutter. the shop filter. but what does attached great importance really mean shouldn't a who best have to take the next step and act accordingly comes, doesn't can accompany like applebee's actually afford to stop buying copper from companies like could alco food fun? could they put so much for this kidney stone? which one are not, it's not a matter of not working together, but rather of looking for ways to improve whatever issues are in need of improvement or i know and then to get as close as possible to the standard ssl and done even the shenise and standouts best no class, definitely to commit to standards again, for the 1st 5, we had the water sample we collected from the rio loa in the village of chew,

chew examined that an independent laboratory man fled santa and explained the results to us. he's a toxics expert at greenpeace. the arsenic levels were extremely high. fidelity concentrates young disease. i've seen such levels after disasters with red mud resulting from aluminum extraction in the shoulder, alto. we've had similarly high levels in the sediment and in the water, which was then released. that means it's a very, very high concentration sat for an accident. while we'd seen something like this after an accident for after an environmental catastrophe, a little bit cut us toll for ya, and found is the level of arsenic effect. the population friend who suffer nuclear . this water is used for irrigating fields or for watering livestock, or even his drinking water than the population will be exposed to high arsenic concentrations, home of and that is unacceptable, because it can lead to dramatic health consequences. folks should come

then, to our surprise alphabets offered us a new interview. the company's sustainability expert wanted to give more in depth answers to our questions. ah, who this referred to it's code of conduct, which it says should be binding for all business partners. there it says quote, our values guide our actions. we wondered if this next interview would offer clarity. i brought along some images from our footage and she lay we returned to humbug. where of who this is located. christian hine is the company's head of sustainability. let me invite this quote, it says in the code of conduct we do not tolerate forced to labor or child labor, and we respect the rights of indigenous populations from harvey. now we have of course investigated just that and the indigenous population and she lay is affected

tremendously by copper mining focus extreme but profit william cooper, apo twice name it in fall i was, i'm with you on site. so that statement is of course difficult to verify and evaluate, but in general, the issue of human rights we just quoted, it is really one of our main priorities and our standards are very high handled, say a launch push a we showed high in the test results of the water from the re uloa and the incredibly high levels of arsenic. and so didn't uncomfort switched a little name. it's difficult for me to comment on these figures because i don't know the details. exactly. sh, good does. but in general, this does truly apply to all suppliers cut and deeper, and we make use of the available options. and i was told from and we really do enter enter discussions with suppliers. cindy def in utah. we also have very clearly defined criteria that i'm talking here of extreme cases who could ultimately lead to terminating business relations, etc. oldenburg and then this would indeed be the time for it. i showed christian hine are footage is like i thought what

i saw there is no joke and if things were working with the partners, then it wouldn't look like this. if you all seen it come pretty. i can't speak to these images because i don't have the facts to so it's something i can't really comment on from the academy schools of at a later question as to whether or not a who has had pursued the matters we discussed was once again, only answered in general terms heavily, anyone reported something on your website. whistleblower page holcomb made it as of his hasn't fun. we haven't been made aware of any violation so far. but as you point out, it's possible to do so on the website of the internet and that's not the only way on this line. we can also be contacted by email by phone and it doesn't go directly to us, but to a truly independent entity, a pinkish taylor and come on the new mile. ations and concerns can be submitted anonymously. and then there are external on independent lawyers who take on the matter. i sunlight it or does it does a hot aloha named so apparently this is no grounds for action. business goes

on as usual. and what are politicians doing about it? germany's ministry for economic affairs and climate action is headquartered in berlin. renewable energy is our core focus of the green party, lead ministry. yet nobody had time to answer our questions about the dark side of the energy transition. so why do we import so much copper in the 1st place? if germany has deposits of its own for once made the town of ghost law rich for more than 1000 years the or was extracted in the hamas bag mine in the hot mountains. to day the mines are nothing more than a museum. why is that? exhibition manager, your highness goals of income man led us to the old deposits the

green deposits that form when copper react with oxygen are clearly visible from that occupied and go to school. so i'm a mining operation stopped by 1988 housekeepers. firstly, because the deposits were exhausted with nothing significant left farms mom and by and secondly, because it was extremely expensive compared to other countries where they do open pit mining. archival of both of that's of course, always cheaper when germany has the highest safety and environmental standards for mining world wide erskin, but off long. but that to, of course, makes it relatively expensive to mine. here are lucky flew. in other words, and places where less value is placed on people in nature copper is cheaper to mine . it seems that copper mining is simply a dirty business to this day water contaminated with pollutants runs out of the

hamas bag. the pond reminds me of the gigantic waste water lake at the ciocca. martha mine and she lay georgia, rest her blood. this is what mining leaves behind. there's done awfully true. nobody wants that on the doorstep, him listen to the pollutants. i everlasting. i'm a sludge contaminated with heavy metals, like the fuel rods left over from nuclear power plans on place have to be protected and safe, guarded forever. was that some was everlasting pollutants? who wants those in their back yard? yet germany is one of the world's biggest consumers of copper. so shouldn't it mind the metal itself? there are in fact, plans to start extracting copper in germany once again. after all,

the price has risen to the point where mining could become viable again. we traveled to the lou satiate region, south of berlin. this is germany 2nd biggest area for brown coal mining. large copper deposits are also thought to be present near the mining areas. slim bag is the heart of the mining district. people here are facing major changes as brown coal mining comes to an end as copper and alternative cloudy, evolve, head of urban planning sees an opportunity for the region skipped of a legal man. there are proposals to mind. copper under ground tests have been underway for about 10 years. the venture would of course, create a large number of jobs. tax revenue is always an important issue for the city. and we also think it's important to no longer be dependent on raw materials from around the world. but to be able to use our own deposits in germany to conan in

deutschland. environmentalists have long been warning of the risks, but no one agreed to speak out on camera. however, blas ohio sta from the company cook for sheaf allows it's or copper shale who sasha has an argument in favor of mining. yvonne deny sampling doesn't and he's a company we want to prove it is economically feasible to man copper where it's densely populated. it's in accordance with environmental and social regulations. cope up to about this and we're up here who yeah, here you see the sand layer and down here is the copper shells for sheaf and that's where we'd have to get to loosen get come. when germany was split into 2 countries, exploratory drilling was carried out in the east at that time, mining was too expensive. in the meantime however, the price of copper has risen 7 fold mining and lu sasha now seems lucrative. he had mendez is the path of the young man. here you are, specialists, laboratories, and customers will love yes. if you can optimize a whole lot better here than you. cameron, building

a whole city in the andes of 5000 meters of tells me that when processing modern, everything else becomes far more complicated than it is here in dallas. 100 of yes . if you could see it as is he is furthermore, copper wouldn't have to be transported half way around the world for processing and humbug. but one major downside forests would have to be cleared to build the mine. and what about those everlasting pollutants? and the toxic waste water, is it even possible to mine copper ecologically? with a, we took a trip to canada. there are many copper deposits in the far corners of north america to one of the largest is in the sudbury basin, and the province of ontario. pictures from the 1970s reveal the devastating environmental damage caused by the copper mines. the region resembled a lunar landscape. astronauts even trained here before their apollo munitions

sudbury was once considered the most polluted place in the western hemisphere. we wanted to see what it looks like to day in the area around the sudbury base, and that was once so heavily forested as part of an effort to address in byron into pollution. the super stack was built in 1972. at that time it was the tallest smokestack in the world. it was supposed to better disperse pollution from the copper mine. but the result was devastating. land within a radius of 200 kilometers was heavily polluted. today there is little sign of the ecological catastrophe that happened here 50 years ago. it's in large part

thanks to this man, professor peter beckett. he became an icon in canada for his role in a re greening project that helped rejuvenate sudbury. peter beckett showed us a special place the hill where the re greening program got started for welcome that a picture ha. all this same site that was taken before them. so any re green done it in this area and it, it shows a motion dal, street and, and the houses. and the old lack of vegetation existed in 1979. but the region here is wet and green. would such a re nature ration program also be possible and she lays desert

but it also could apply enjoy areas because those susan, susan principles will restoration ecology about how you approach the, the problem, the trials you would, you will carry out to come up with a suitable vessel b, which is adapted to the local area, such as such as the desert. although copper is still being mined in sudbury, the forests have largely recovered. and what about the rivers and lakes that 40 years ago had no life left in them? john gun, a professor at laurentian university in sudbury, studies the water in silver lake when i started working as a research biologist in 1978. this was reputed to be the most atmospherically contaminated with mattel lake in the world. and i had no fish, very acidic,

like lemon juice. and today we're here to watch the remarkable recovery that the pollution has been reduced to 2 percent of what it was then. every 3 months, john gunn and his students checked the fish population in silver, lake and other lakes in the area. the fact that they can live here is a very good sign. so there's a very sensitive species that doesn't like copper nichole, and i hear it is obviously living in silver lake under the current conditions. so that's a very good news story that follow. so is it possible for copper mining to be environmentally friendly? john gunn told us that the metal in sudbury minds is treated under ground so that very few heavy metals are brought to the surface. we

drove to valet the largest copper smelter in sudbury. there we met with glen watson, who is responsible for sustainability. we wanted to know how the company managed to, to make production clean, or you need a strong government and, and, and you need a government that's willing to work with industry as well. every technology that, that reduces your impact on the environment is, is costly. you have to just have internal policies that are a committed to sustainability and continual improvement. and you have to be committed as a company to, to put the resources necessary to achieve those. those gains not to not every project is going to have the return that you hope for in a business like setting. in other words, sustainability is expensive. so unless a company is required to produce sustainably,

it's rather unlikely to do so. what about the cost of the restoration program? peter beckett made the calculations at the university in sudbury. the total cost so far as the mountain money spent on the the program since from $978.00 to 2001 is $55000000.00. which if one compares that with a lot of the restoration programs is actually phase is fairly modest. $19000.00 lakes were considered dead and what was once hundreds of square miles of forest were nothing but black stone. it is amazing how far sudbury has come. the success has set an example for mines and the other comma, desert, and elsewhere in the world. ah,

perhaps sudbury can also be a role model for more environmentally friendly copper mining in germany. despite coppers drawbacks, i will still opt for renewable energy. after all, we don't really have much of a choice doing, but something has to change and how copper is sourced. politicians world wide must enforce reasonable mining standards for this vital resource. companies can not be left to their own devices to decide themselves what is best for a song. ah ah, how much does co fi hon the environment these pioneers know that quite well. and that's why they're taking a different approach. they cultivate old farming, taking revive forgotten plant species,

and discover new potential world wide in defiance of b corporation is good coffee in 30 minutes on d, w. o. in europe, we love diversity and anything unusual, no mountain is too high and no road is too long. in search of the extraordinary we are the specialists of lifestyle, europe, euro macs, on d, w. d or flying rivers, traded by waterfalls,

throwing water particles into the air b, trees and sweating out up to 1000 liters of water in a day or sea forest fires, evaporating large amounts of moisture until in to get the answer. learn more about this phenomenon, a heavy, invisible river that flows through the sky starts march 23rd on d w. ah, this is d w. news. and these are our top stories. at least 7 people are dead and several others wounded after a gunman fired shots of jehovah, witness religious meeting in the german city of hamburg, police deployed special security forces to the area.