one will take without several key players, including you so some coke or who's what the game winner against them the last time around. whenever the outcome, this rivalry is about more than just points, pride and bragging rights are also on the line. and that's all for now up next. how demand for electric cars is damaging the environment that's coming up next, and doc filter, dirty capa. i'm monica jones from me in that in thanks for watching them or flying rivers formed by hey waterfalls. perspiring trees or see evaporation during forest fires. and like them i don't get the answer and home away by invisible river that flows through the sky. starts march 23rd 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 applebee's, 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?

light 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 a song ons, 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 the 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 humble of hulu, recycles copper, and it imports the raw material from various my things 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 man. yeah. where's

most of your or from ever being gentle 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 doors. we have up to 100, all concentrates developed 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 sheila, especially these days. how do you ensure that other countries comply with your labor and environmental standards? hasn't came out of click 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 navy, 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 over a 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 in chile, the state own company corporate asked you on national little over a that sheila or co delco for short. this is where our

reporting led us, the largest mine in the world operated by cordell coal. it's located near kalama, in the middle of july at the comma desert ah, in kalama, close to the mines, we meet your 100000 a journalist living in g 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 chucky come at that our destination the residential areas along the route are deserted. housing 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 for the sailors check up all the more of the sierra la la la, fetch her they for this is where we commemorate the dead miners of topeka mata

a saw wet rocky. these men made and continue to make great sacrifices for the copper industry under their own. don't grand sack a sacrifice that's resulted in one thing in particular. let them in 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 neal thought he latha who lost her daughter more than 40 years ago on the day she was born even. ah, yes, legacy then convinced that yuki commodities and pollution is responsible for the deaths of all these children, hardly any one can sleep. at night you feel like you're suffocating. i myself got

thyroid cancer for a name with the company called alco, which runs the chicky. come out that mine is owned by the chillin 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 criticize could delco or yeah, it's impossible. busy and it has a trade unionist to go on the doors of kudos to remain close to me just as they are for us journalist summer holiday. oh, most of the workers who toil away here. i'm not even employed by co delco, but my subcontractors think that will fit the only 30 percent of the workers are employed directly into a fellow day,

a them the 70 percent officially work for subcontract ursula, the embezzling study, played sigma 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 fidel co looms large in man. oh god, one of the god when they would track me down in destroy me or the ladder,

if they'd also get rid of the entire sub contractor i work for again. i think i'm was a lot the workers who could elko employees directly where some kind of space helmet with a built in breathing device different a all was i'll who it and unlock are we? on the other hand, he was only get simple masks. no thing to learning that the later when these and i 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 as 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, my fellow union leader miguel hernandez told us that in the future could alco plans to employ only 10 percent of its workforce. all the rest are to come from sub

contractors. 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 . so if you seen of it at, in its 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 alley yada. ah, you got a link that and you can't even get to ruby's his complaint page. i know i will always we made a note to ask a little bit about it complaints procedure once back in germany. the work and

health conditions in the mind near kalama appeared 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 he or to a moral is a lawyer for environmental law. he represents many indigenous groups who live in the area, dividend kalama, so now allow that people in kalama, continuously exposed to find dust pollution at the elbow. people know in godaddy belie constantly developing severe respiratory diseases that the or dying suddenly of cancer. after you seal or i will, i meant to call mom for america. welcome to number one, cause of death in our region. his cancer please. he balco said him where the is

help cancer. we then discovered why he wanted to meet here at the border of the could alco site. this was once a salt lake for decades. the mine operator could delco 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 village. ah. the village is called shoot you and was once an important away sits on the legendary ink a 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 holds some water soon and when i full, you can send that multiple studies have found over 66 different substances contaminating the river when empty, what doc seek all of them originate from mining lemon parliament. the up of mining

has poised in the entire region that we build you at that mainland annoying country on the rio. noah is the most important water source and the other comma desert, and yet it is said to be the most polluted river. in chile, 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 i, mom, he is li cannon. ty, also known as at the camino lawyer sent hotel morrow is representing him and his people against the state and the mining company called alco calling and be like, well, i think the electrical dude i a like i say there, there is simply no water left frag or culture or lima cantoya. well, 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. so they go now. yeah, feel the cassette unbelievable to to 1st the state took land from indigenous people and now there water when a like i love it, i say low, this is the school of my last cow yesterday. daniel. it died 20 years ago as the human a waste is started drawing out a lot of gunner, they don't. e jour gigabyte hangs here as a reminder that our water was stolen from us. a lot they didn't look was political . ah that yuki come on to mind 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 spring. locals grew corn here for centuries. now there is nothing left but sand and dust vivian door, no sippin on me, didn't mean it or thank god we live and cadell calls huge mining area, a c. m. both those are brassy heard, can us so there will be more am, but i think i meant them. but as you can see, say we live in extreme poverty. so if go my bloody fit in caea gay? gay your no, i'm for the i said not up or not. so at that all you see on the guess at the ample and the good, i'm sorry. i i no nature,

no butler patel co does nothing to mitigate the harm the company has done to us. yes. a 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 it 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 the medicine. but i get the glass a used vehicle instead of under most residents have long since moved away from

cooper. mm. mm. 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 when i know lima, this income, but as she compared to the standards in europe by the limits and she lay are a joke. and only i who went, did they all seem to get more to my she can, they 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. one of

the boston area fabrics you my mentioned will shin again sibyl, shantell and norma. i'm one of them at the debt, but people all these. well, this graph shows the concentration of arsenic a level, but as shown douglas and the shown that said the red line it up is the european limit. eagle. 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 center level fuel. yet to see exceed the limits by more than 200 per cent modeling to shield 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 san don son continued 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 an appearance uniform. we went to a doctor who tried to help him lead. i didn't get up. we are on getting nothing 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. oh chilton, 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 leg one for me. sure. in more, yes,

dental or my the yellow and the air is too heavily polluted with heavy metals mean it, i like the sagas, are you doing okay, and what time tra, bicycle these toxic substances affect the development of the brain. especially in children who sit out only a year from may. there are many diseases here that are linked to pollution. we all know that particularly it's no accident that the families of fidel k buffy is living santiago and not here has some via the us and on family doesn't have the means to leave the city. all they can do is cling to hope that something will change ah, that suki komatsu. 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 that i'm with the road of death. we scheduled an interview with dr. google, but need this cassette is the 64 year old, his head of anatomical pathology. he mainly studies cancerous tumors. enter the tongue, which are my laura cancer rates in this region are on average $5.00 to $7.00 times higher than in the rest of the country year. so broke the disease is caused primarily by the heavy arsenic contamination and kalama. and until august, after i 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 until 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 downward, exposure to heavy metals is steadily increasing. this will cause the mortality rate to rise even more in the future. you shall know my parlor killable god, o mentor, left us. 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. i go sometimes contains lead, copper, arsenic for the whole periodic table. up and down. a fairly gl gordon paula de la, bigger moon. 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 available his deputy plant manager accent bond with the results of our investigation. lucy, keep the cancer rate in kalama, the closest city to chucky, come on that is 7 times higher than elsewhere in sheila sheila did decay and from my phone to the time you can hide con, confirm over a few the detailed information you've shared. a mock and there may be causes that need to be examined for by that. but i would like to point out that we at rubin

attached great importance to ensuring good conditions for our supplies all throughout the supply chain on and long telephone cutter, the chicago. but what does attached great importance really mean shouldn't i who best have to take the next step and act accordingly comes didn't. can a company like applebee's actually afford to stop buying copper from companies like could elko food fun? could they put so much for this kidney? felon vishna 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 vision. these are standards best, mo plus, 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, fred santa and explained the results to us. he's a toxics expert at greenpeace. the arsenic levels were extremely high.

fidelity concentrate soon because i've seen such levels after disasters with red mud resulting from aluminum extraction and the full of 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. after an accident, while we'd seen something like this after an accident, after an environmental catastrophe. but cut us toll for ya on file is the level of arsenic effect. the population vendors suffer. because if this water is used for irrigating fields, or for watering livestock, or even as drinking water than the population will be exposed to high arsenic concentrations home, 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. 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 albus 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 population from harvey. now we have of course investigated just that and the indigenous population and she lay is affected tremendously by copper mining will be he extreme, but profit william cooper, apo twice name it in for all i was i'm with you on side. 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 on. don't 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 answered and then concave switched a long name. it's difficult for me to comment on these figures because i don't know the details. exactly. sh do does. but in general, this does truly apply to all suppliers, cut and diva, and we make use of the available options in the household. and we really do enter enter discussions with suppliers. cindy, definitely are. 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 hein r footage to say i thought what i saw there is no joke and if things were working with the partners, then it wouldn't look like this. all seen it come pretty. i can't speak to these

images because i don't have the facts. so it's something i can't really comment on from the county schools without 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 as anyone reported something on your website . whistleblower page holcombe. 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 de la on come on. the new violations and concerns can be submitted anonymously. and then there are external on independent lawyers who take on the matter. i, somebody at a disease 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, or a 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 copper 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 classified an endlessness. i'm a mining operation stopped by 1988 whiskey us firstly because the deposits were exhausted with nothing significant left farms mom about. 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 of long for that to of course makes it relatively expensive to mine here. a lucky fellow. 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 loose off one or 2. 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 plants on fish have to be protected and safeguarded forever. richardson was everlasting pollutants. who wants those in their backyard? yet germany is one of the world's biggest consumers of copper. so shouldn't 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. is copper and alternative, cloudy, evolve, head of urban planning, sees an opportunity for the region to schedule 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 she allows it or copper shale who sasha has an argument in favor of mining. the 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 here here you see the sand layers on and down here is the copper shale that hold for sheaf. and that's where we'd have to get to mission 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 monday to pass after he atman, hear your specialist, laboratories, and customers, and other yes, if you can optimize a whole lot better here than you can one building a whole city in the andes, at 5000 meters of tells me to who that's when processing water and everything else becomes far more complicated than it is here in dallas, under of yes,

he had physical gutierrez is he is furthermore, for 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 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 environmental 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 said peter becket showed us a special place. the hill where the re grading program got started or we're looking at a picture of all this same site that was taken before them. so any regression done in this area and it, it shows a motion dal, street and, and the houses. and the old lack of education existed in 979. but the region here is wet and green. would such a re nature ration program also be possible and she lays desert and it also could apply enjoy areas because those are 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 and such as the deserts. 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 to 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, a remarkable recovery that the pollution has been reduced to 2 percent of what it

was. then every 3 months john gun 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 at 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 a but you have to have internal policies that are, are 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

sudbury, the total cost so far as the melva money spent on the the program since from 978 to 2001 is $55000000.00. which if one compares that with a lot of other restoration programs is actually phase, is fairly modest. 19000 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. perhaps sudbury can also be a role model for more environmentally friendly copper mining in germany. this by

coppers drawbacks, i will still up 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 us all? ah ah, what making the headlines and what's behind them. dw news africa. the show that the issue have been the continent. life is slowly getting back to normally where on the streets to give you enough report on the inside. our cars funding was on the ground reporting from across the continent. all the trends doesn't matter to you.

in 30 minutes on d w. o. oh, he said, winning offers is available worldwide. and for every language level, learning german has never been simpler. german to go a, a

ah, ah ah, this is d, they'll be in use live from berlin. china has a new 2nd in command, the national people's congress approved lee chung as premier. he was nominated by shooting, paying a storm to ally off the president. also coming up, japan mocks, the anniversary of the fukushima disaster the nuclear meltdown. tickets by the deadly earthquake and synonymy is still making waves with china government and to japanese fishermen denouncing plans to release.