0:00:03 > 0:00:07On Panorama tonight: the billionaires to blame for an acid
0:00:07 > 0:00:12waterfall. I promise you, standing here, it stinks to high heaven.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16This whole place stinks of acid. The company responsible is one of
0:00:16 > 0:00:20the biggest on the London Stock Exchange. So why didn't Glencore
0:00:20 > 0:00:24fix this? Would you like to wash your hands with your Glencore
0:00:24 > 0:00:27water? I know what the water is. I have seen it. I have been to that
0:00:27 > 0:00:37river. Glencore's worth billions but did it try to profit from
0:00:37 > 0:00:43This land is covered with blood. boasts it's an ethical business.
0:00:43 > 0:00:49But has Glencore made money from children working deep under ground?
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Young man how old are you? I am ten. I just wonder how the people who
0:00:52 > 0:01:02are now pocketing the huge bonuses, how they can possibly sleep easily
0:01:02 > 0:01:19
0:01:19 > 0:01:29In the wake of the financial crisis, big business is being challenged as
0:01:29 > 0:01:35
0:01:35 > 0:01:40Protesters have been demanding a fairer form of capitalism. And the
0:01:40 > 0:01:42prime minister is backing calls for change. I want these times to lead
0:01:42 > 0:01:45to a socially responsible and genuinely popular capitalism, one
0:01:45 > 0:01:55in which the power of the market and the obligations of
0:01:55 > 0:02:05
0:02:05 > 0:02:12So is the City really mending its ways? I've been tracking one of our
0:02:12 > 0:02:22richest multinationals. It affects all of our lives, but it's hardly a
0:02:22 > 0:02:24
0:02:24 > 0:02:29household name. Has anyone here heard of Glencore? I haven't no.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34Have you heard of this company? Have you heard of Glencore? Is it a
0:02:34 > 0:02:36whiskey? No, it's not a whiskey. You may not have heard of it either,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41but Glencore is one of the most powerful conglomerates on the
0:02:42 > 0:02:47planet. In our country Glencore trades mainly with wheat, corn and
0:02:47 > 0:02:55such stuff. It's a commodities giant that trades the raw materials
0:02:55 > 0:02:58we all take for granted. You might not realise it, but we all use the
0:02:59 > 0:03:02stuff Glencore makes its billions from every day. From the cotton in
0:03:02 > 0:03:08my shirt, to the fancy metals in my phone, to the really important
0:03:08 > 0:03:16stuff like barley and wheat. That's a sandwich and a pint to you and me.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Cheers. Glencore is massive. It trades a tenth of the wheat that
0:03:20 > 0:03:23comes on to the world market, a quarter of the barley and half of
0:03:23 > 0:03:29the copper. Commodities like these all have one thing in common - the
0:03:29 > 0:03:32prices have gone up. For people in the UK obviously higher prices have
0:03:32 > 0:03:35an impact on people's quality of life. But for people in developing
0:03:35 > 0:03:38countries, that impact is much more stark, much more harshly felt, so
0:03:38 > 0:03:48the World Bank has estimated that 44 million people have fallen into
0:03:48 > 0:03:50
0:03:50 > 0:03:54extreme poverty simply due to those Rising prices may be hurting
0:03:54 > 0:04:02ordinary families. But thanks to the commodity boom, some people are
0:04:02 > 0:04:09doing very well. When Glencore floated on the London Stock
0:04:09 > 0:04:17Exchange last year, it was valued at �36 billion. That's six times
0:04:17 > 0:04:21the value of Marks and Sparks. It was London's biggest ever float.
0:04:21 > 0:04:30Glencore was owned by its partners, so when the company listed on the
0:04:30 > 0:04:32London Stock Exchange, 480 of them became multi-millionaires. The top
0:04:32 > 0:04:35five partners went one better - they became billionaires. For such
0:04:35 > 0:04:41a handful of people to become so rich so quickly, certainly in
0:04:41 > 0:04:43market terms, was unprecedented. Other large-scale flotations in
0:04:43 > 0:04:46London have seen enormous numbers of shareholders gain or sometimes
0:04:46 > 0:04:56lose, of course, but never such a concentration of wealth in so few
0:04:56 > 0:05:00
0:05:00 > 0:05:08hands. Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg was the biggest winner.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13His stake in the company is now worth a whopping �4 billion. So
0:05:13 > 0:05:18where does the money come from? Glencore was founded by an American,
0:05:18 > 0:05:28Marc Rich in 1974. Accused of illegal oil deals, cheating tax and
0:05:28 > 0:05:31
0:05:31 > 0:05:38racketeering, he fled to Marc Rich got a pardon and has now
0:05:38 > 0:05:41gone, but Glencore's still here in Zug, enjoying the tax breaks.
0:05:41 > 0:05:47Glencore says it "places the highest priority on the environment
0:05:47 > 0:05:56and the local communities where it operates." Fine words. But I want
0:05:56 > 0:05:59to find out if they are true. I'm off to see the �4 billion man. Ivan
0:05:59 > 0:06:06Glasenberg has never given a TV interview before, but he's agreed
0:06:06 > 0:06:10to see me. We care about the environment. We care about the
0:06:11 > 0:06:17people. We care about these issues in the environment in which we
0:06:17 > 0:06:22operate JS: And the local communities in which you operate?
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Do you care about them? Very much. We care about the local
0:06:25 > 0:06:28communities,we care the people who work at our operations and we care
0:06:28 > 0:06:30about the people around our operations in which we operate.
0:06:30 > 0:06:37a nutshell Glencore equals corporate responsibility? Is that
0:06:37 > 0:06:40right? Oh, yes. I want to test that claim on the ground. Glencore
0:06:40 > 0:06:43employs 60,000 people at sites all over the world. We're off to
0:06:43 > 0:06:53Colombia, where the company makes a bob or two out of coal. In fact
0:06:53 > 0:06:55
0:06:55 > 0:07:02coal boss Tor Peterson is now Colombia is only just emerging from
0:07:02 > 0:07:07civil war. Hundreds of thousands died. For years, brutal
0:07:08 > 0:07:16paramilitaries controlled much of Cesar province. People say it was
0:07:16 > 0:07:23impossible to do business here unless you paid them off. I have
0:07:23 > 0:07:25come to a prison in Valledupar to meet a hitman. He has been
0:07:25 > 0:07:30sentenced to 72 years for organising the killing of 200
0:07:31 > 0:07:40people. Samario has also given evidence about the way big mining
0:07:41 > 0:07:41
0:07:41 > 0:07:44companies financed the TRANSLATION: It was impossible for
0:07:44 > 0:07:48a multinational company to be in this region without having a
0:07:48 > 0:07:53relationship with the paramilitaries. Impossible. We
0:07:53 > 0:07:58ruled that area. We practically owned the place. And everything
0:07:58 > 0:08:03that went on there, happened with our permission. All the
0:08:03 > 0:08:07multinationals and other companies that were in the area paid us. They
0:08:07 > 0:08:10financed us. We have been told it was impossible to operate in that
0:08:10 > 0:08:17part of Colombia where your coal mine is without paying the
0:08:17 > 0:08:20paramilitaries? Absolutely incorrect. We have never dealt,
0:08:20 > 0:08:30never paid, never met the paramilitaries in all our years in
0:08:30 > 0:08:37
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Colombia. One thing is clear. This was a tough place to do business.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43This is Calenturitas - a vast, open-cast coal mine. Glencore's
0:08:43 > 0:08:53subsidiary Prodeco owns it. But there's a serious dispute about the
0:08:53 > 0:08:56
0:08:56 > 0:08:59land next door. We wanted to talk to the previous owners of the land,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03but we can't, because they are dead. This land, called El Prado, used to
0:09:03 > 0:09:08be home to 48 farming families. Word got out they were living on
0:09:08 > 0:09:13top of a coal field. And then one morning, in 2002, the men with guns
0:09:13 > 0:09:18arrived. TRANSLATION: It was Sunday and we
0:09:18 > 0:09:21all were at home, when a group of 10 people arrived. They took my
0:09:21 > 0:09:26brothers, my father and a friend of the family, tied them up, beat them,
0:09:26 > 0:09:34and took them away. We haven't heard anything about them since
0:09:35 > 0:09:38that day. Margot's husband and three sons were murdered.
0:09:38 > 0:09:47TRANSLATION: I locked myself inside the house, I was screaming. I felt
0:09:47 > 0:09:49like somebody was trying to get in. I've been left traumatised. Two of
0:09:49 > 0:09:54morguo's family were killed by Samario.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59TRANSLATION: There was a boy who was 16 or 17 years old I think. I
0:09:59 > 0:10:06killed them with a .357 calibre revolver with mercy shots to the
0:10:06 > 0:10:10head. At least ten people were murdered
0:10:11 > 0:10:14by Samario's gang at El Prado. The survivors fled, saying their land
0:10:14 > 0:10:20was taken over by henchmen, relatives and associates of the
0:10:20 > 0:10:28killers. What happened later is disputed. People here told us that
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Glencore eventually bought the land off the henchmen.
0:10:32 > 0:10:42TRANSLATION: The first 48 families were replaced by other families
0:10:42 > 0:10:45that were connected to the paramilitaries. And that's how
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Glencore bought the land from the second owners, not from the first
0:10:48 > 0:10:57ones, because they'd already been displaced and many were
0:10:57 > 0:11:03assassinated. When we first put this to Glencore
0:11:03 > 0:11:07it was flatly denied. Have you heard of the El Prado massacre?
0:11:07 > 0:11:12I've heard about the massacre. people were killed, at least ten
0:11:12 > 0:11:16were killed, and Glencore has ended up owning their land. Totally
0:11:16 > 0:11:21incorrect. Glencore does not own the El Prado land, has never
0:11:21 > 0:11:27intended to own the land. Glencore was telling us that it had never
0:11:27 > 0:11:32intended to buy El Prado. But what about these documents from 2008?
0:11:32 > 0:11:39They show that Glencore's subsidiary agreed to pay the new
0:11:39 > 0:11:44occupiers of the land $1.8 million. Locals say the henchmen got the
0:11:44 > 0:11:48cash. So what's going on? The Colombain courts have investigated
0:11:48 > 0:11:53the paramilitary murders. This is a court judgment against two men
0:11:53 > 0:11:57accused in what the locals say is the El Prado massacre. It's not
0:11:57 > 0:12:05good news for Glencore. Paramilitaries told the court they
0:12:05 > 0:12:10stole the land so they could later: "sell it to the firm Prodeco, who
0:12:10 > 0:12:18would begin an open-cast coal mining operation." The court
0:12:18 > 0:12:25concluded that coal was the motive TRANSLATION: We have evidence, with
0:12:25 > 0:12:33proof, by law, formally atested by a Colombain judge that this land is
0:12:33 > 0:12:39covered with blood. The blood of the peasants who were forced off
0:12:39 > 0:12:43the land, humiliated, tortured and assassinated.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46There is a court judgment which concluded that the motive for the
0:12:46 > 0:12:50massacre was to take the land so that it could be sold to Glencore.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Was the court wrong? The court is wrong, if that's what the court
0:12:53 > 0:12:58ruling was, I can assure you Glencore doesn't own the land.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01There's no coal underneath that land or if there is, it's very deep,
0:13:01 > 0:13:08not minable and therefore we would have no intention to own the land
0:13:08 > 0:13:14and have no reason to own the land. Last week Glencore admitted it had
0:13:14 > 0:13:18agreed to buy the land, after all. The company says it was asked to by
0:13:18 > 0:13:28the government as part of a resettlement project. It says the
0:13:28 > 0:13:33deal fell through and it has no mining rights at El Prado. But
0:13:33 > 0:13:40Glencore now admits it paid $1.8 million to people that locals
0:13:40 > 0:13:46insist were henchmen of the killers. Meanwhile, the search for bodies
0:13:46 > 0:13:55continues. Margot's husband and sons are in a mass grave, but no-
0:13:55 > 0:14:00So much for corporate responsibility in Colombia. We're
0:14:00 > 0:14:07heading to Africa, to look at Glencore's copper business. It's
0:14:07 > 0:14:17run by Daniel Mate Badenes and Aristotelis Mistakidis. Following
0:14:17 > 0:14:25
0:14:25 > 0:14:35the Glencore float, they are worth Glencore prides itself on working
0:14:35 > 0:14:36
0:14:36 > 0:14:42in countries where other companies And there are few places harder to
0:14:42 > 0:14:48do business than the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's still
0:14:48 > 0:14:57suffering from a war that's left five million dead. This is the wild
0:14:57 > 0:15:06Welcome to Kolwezi in the heart of the copper belt. And almost
0:15:06 > 0:15:11everybody here works for king There's a huge copper industry here,
0:15:11 > 0:15:21for big multinationals and locals too. But there's little effective
0:15:21 > 0:15:27
0:15:27 > 0:15:37regulation. Corruption is I travel down the road to the
0:15:37 > 0:15:37
0:15:37 > 0:15:47village of Luilu. Glencore owns a It burns the rock with sulphuric
0:15:47 > 0:15:48
0:15:48 > 0:15:58acid to get at the copper. The But the company's been pumping it
0:15:58 > 0:16:02straight into the local river. This You can see the pollution. You can
0:16:02 > 0:16:06see how bad it looks, but you can't smell it. And I promise you,
0:16:06 > 0:16:14standing here, it stinks to high heaven. This whole place stinks of
0:16:14 > 0:16:24This filth has been pouring into the river 24 hours a day, seven
0:16:24 > 0:16:24
0:16:24 > 0:16:31There's nothing here, there are no fish. Fish don't survive the acid
0:16:31 > 0:16:38conditions here. That man there, that Mr Glencore, he lacks any
0:16:38 > 0:16:48respect for people, no-one would do that to another human being. It's
0:16:48 > 0:16:48
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Upstream, the water is clear and green. Downstream, brown sludge.
0:16:51 > 0:16:58Now the old Sweeney nose is not exactly a scientific instrument, so
0:16:58 > 0:17:04I am going to do a simple test. You really don't want to fall into this.
0:17:04 > 0:17:11But there's only one way of testing the water. Getting your hands a
0:17:11 > 0:17:20little bit dirty. I did O-level chemistry all those years ago in
0:17:20 > 0:17:30the '70s. To test for acid, we use litmus paper. If it's acid, it
0:17:30 > 0:17:38
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Pink. That means there's acid in Glencore points out that the
0:17:41 > 0:17:51pollution here started long before the company took over the Luilu
0:17:51 > 0:17:52
0:17:52 > 0:17:55refinery. But they've been running If you dumped acid into a river in
0:17:55 > 0:18:01Switzerland or the River Thames in England, you would be in trouble
0:18:01 > 0:18:05within a minute? 100% correct, that is true. So why did you do that?
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Because it was impossible to remedy anyway faster. It was very
0:18:08 > 0:18:13important for the government to ensure we maintained employment of
0:18:13 > 0:18:17these 6,500 people. So we had to fix this problem at the Luilu
0:18:17 > 0:18:21refinery while we kept the employment and the refinery running.
0:18:21 > 0:18:26Here's some water I took. Would you like to wash your hands with it,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29sir? Not realI can see what it is. I can see it. Yes. Would you like
0:18:29 > 0:18:33to wash your hands with your Glencore water? I know what the
0:18:33 > 0:18:36water is. I have seen it. I have been to that river. That is what
0:18:36 > 0:18:39people have dumped into the river for 50 years. Not correct. Terrible.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42That's why Glencore has spent vast amounts of money to get rid of this
0:18:42 > 0:18:48problem, to ensure clean water in two weeks' time will be discharged
0:18:48 > 0:18:53into that river. Glencore now says they've stopped the acid pollution,
0:18:53 > 0:19:00but so far have made no commitment to compensate the villagers. But
0:19:00 > 0:19:10that's not the only complaint They're accused of profiting from
0:19:10 > 0:19:14
0:19:14 > 0:19:18freelance miners working in This is Tilwezembe. Glencore owns a
0:19:18 > 0:19:26mining concession here. They closed it four years ago and it's been
0:19:26 > 0:19:31dormant since. And this is as far as we can go. Up there is a barrier.
0:19:31 > 0:19:41The first of three. And beyond that, Tilwezembe mine. The whole place is
0:19:41 > 0:19:45
0:19:45 > 0:19:55We sent a local researcher to the There are hundreds of miners
0:19:55 > 0:20:01
0:20:01 > 0:20:04working on the site. Each of these Glencore says the site was invaded
0:20:05 > 0:20:14by these miners two years ago and that it has repeatedly asked the
0:20:15 > 0:20:29
0:20:29 > 0:20:39Some of the mine shafts are 150 feet deep. There's no safety
0:20:39 > 0:20:41
0:20:42 > 0:20:45How many miners died here last Some of the survivors have agreed
0:20:45 > 0:20:55to talk to us openly about the accidents, but they don't want to
0:20:55 > 0:20:55
0:20:56 > 0:21:02We had already started working and at that time the rocks started to
0:21:02 > 0:21:12fall. Some bigger and some smaller ones, and then one fell on my leg
0:21:12 > 0:21:17
0:21:17 > 0:21:22here. And my friend, a rock hit him It's against international law for
0:21:22 > 0:21:28anyone under 18 to work on a mine. But these teenagers all started
0:21:28 > 0:21:34work at Tilwezembe much younger. This miner is 16 and he's been
0:21:34 > 0:21:38working there for almost two years. We are suffering because my father
0:21:38 > 0:21:48passed away, then I became unable to go on with my education and so I
0:21:48 > 0:21:52
0:21:52 > 0:22:02went there. My life has become Our secret filming shows there are
0:22:02 > 0:22:14
0:22:14 > 0:22:24other teenagers working illegally Then one of the children tells us
0:22:24 > 0:22:25
0:22:25 > 0:22:31This ten-year-old boy appears to be working on a mining concession that
0:22:31 > 0:22:35is still owned by the billionaires of Glencore. I am absolutely
0:22:35 > 0:22:37appalled and sickened. I cannot believe how a multinational company
0:22:37 > 0:22:40that's been allowed to list publically on the London Stock
0:22:40 > 0:22:50Exchange can possibly justify having children present and working
0:22:50 > 0:22:53
0:22:53 > 0:22:56on their site at Tilwezembe. And I just wonder how these people who
0:22:56 > 0:23:03are now pocketing the huge bonuses, how they can possibly sleep easily
0:23:03 > 0:23:10at night. The company insists it is not responsible because the mine
0:23:10 > 0:23:13has been illegally taken over by freelance artisanal miners. They
0:23:13 > 0:23:19raided the land in 2010 and artisanal miners today are on our
0:23:19 > 0:23:22concession. Against all of our authorisation. And we are pleading
0:23:22 > 0:23:26with the goverment to assist us to remove the artisanal miners from
0:23:26 > 0:23:30our concession. Does Glencore take any copper from Tilwezembe?
0:23:30 > 0:23:38Absolutely no copper, no cobalt from any of the miners on the T
0:23:38 > 0:23:41concession. None? None. Sure? much as our controls put in place,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44sitting here I have to say I am certain that our mines, the
0:23:44 > 0:23:47instructions at the mines, none of our mines, none of our operations
0:23:48 > 0:23:51take any material from artisanal miners. Glencore says all the
0:23:51 > 0:24:01copper it buys is sealed and tagged at its mines to ensure none comes
0:24:01 > 0:24:02
0:24:02 > 0:24:08from artisanal miners like these. The copper at Tilwezembe is stored
0:24:08 > 0:24:18in bags marked GB. That stands for Groupe Bazano, a local company that
0:24:18 > 0:24:19
0:24:19 > 0:24:22is one of Glencore's main partners The only way to find out who is
0:24:22 > 0:24:32profiting from the child labour is to follow one of these lorries as
0:24:32 > 0:24:34
0:24:34 > 0:24:40they leave the mine to see where it This isn't going to be comfortable
0:24:40 > 0:24:50motoring. There's just one dirt road out of here and it's been
0:24:50 > 0:24:52
0:24:52 > 0:25:02trashed by the heavy lorries. At The thunderstorm causes chaos and
0:25:02 > 0:25:04
0:25:04 > 0:25:07It's late the next day when it finally reaches the town of Likasi.
0:25:07 > 0:25:15We follow the lorry to a processing plant owned by Groupe Bazano -
0:25:15 > 0:25:20Glencore's partner in the Congo. So the lorry from the mine that uses
0:25:20 > 0:25:27child labour has finally arrived at its destination here in Likasi. We
0:25:27 > 0:25:30have been tracking it for 27 hours. Groupe Bazano says it doesn't
0:25:30 > 0:25:35profit from child labour and that it has nothing to do with
0:25:35 > 0:25:40Tilwezembe. It says the GB bags at the mine must have been bought
0:25:40 > 0:25:45second hand. Did you know that low grade copper from Tilwezembe is
0:25:45 > 0:25:53taken to the Groupe Bazano plant? have no idea what the Bazano plant
0:25:53 > 0:25:56does. What? I don't know what the Bazano plant does. Sorry? Bazano...
0:25:56 > 0:26:00Yes? Bazano is not a part of Glencore. It's your major partner
0:26:00 > 0:26:04in the Congo? No, no. He is a partner in one operation which we
0:26:04 > 0:26:08have in the Congo. You take copper from Groupe Bazano? No, we don't
0:26:08 > 0:26:12buy copper from Groupe Bazano. you taken copper in the past from
0:26:12 > 0:26:17Groupe Bazano? No, we don't buy material from Groupe Bazano.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22you sure? Yes. Groupe Bazano also denies sending the copper on to
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Glencore. But we have obtained documents that suggest this isn't
0:26:27 > 0:26:34true. They show Groupe Bazano sent some of the child labour copper to
0:26:34 > 0:26:36a Glencore smelter. It's called Mopani. So Glencore not only owns
0:26:36 > 0:26:42the mining concession where the children work, Our evidence
0:26:42 > 0:26:47suggests it also gets some of the copper. The billionaires seem to be
0:26:47 > 0:26:50profiting from child labour. Tilwezembe material is arriving at
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Mopani, we are profiting from child labour, but I am, with the systems
0:26:53 > 0:27:02in place, I am very sure, unless people can prove otherwise, how any
0:27:02 > 0:27:05materials other than our own material can be arriving at Mopani.
0:27:05 > 0:27:15If Tilwezembe material is arriving at Mopani, I have no idea how it
0:27:15 > 0:27:15
0:27:15 > 0:27:17In this part of the world, locals are wary of politicians' promises.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Corporate social responsibility and environmental responsibility have
0:27:19 > 0:27:27been constant themes in the arguments I've made and the
0:27:27 > 0:27:35policies we've developed. Noble words. But does anyone really have
0:27:35 > 0:27:38any traction on multinationals richer than many countries? If you
0:27:38 > 0:27:41look at a market like copper where Glencore's control 50%, that's an
0:27:41 > 0:27:44enormous control to have. It certainly raises a serious risk
0:27:44 > 0:27:46that were that company to behave unethically, it would have the
0:27:46 > 0:27:56power to really exploit that position almost certainly to the
0:27:56 > 0:27:59
0:27:59 > 0:28:04detriment of some of the poorest Back in the UK, Glencore is about
0:28:04 > 0:28:10to become even more powerful. It's announced plans for a merger with
0:28:10 > 0:28:20Xstrata, another mining giant listed on the London Stock Exchange.
0:28:20 > 0:28:21