On November 14, 2025, Britain’s High Court delivered a landmark ruling that could reshape the global landscape for corporate accountability, finding mining giant BHP liable for Brazil’s deadliest environmental disaster: the 2015 Fundão Dam collapse. The decision, rendered by Judge Finola O’Farrell in London, marks the first time a mining company has been held legally responsible for the catastrophe that devastated communities, claimed lives, and left a toxic legacy stretching hundreds of miles across southeastern Brazil.
The Fundão tailings dam, operated by Samarco—a joint venture equally owned by BHP and Brazilian mining giant Vale—collapsed near the city of Mariana in Minas Gerais state on November 5, 2015. The disaster unleashed an estimated 40 million tons of toxic sludge, including arsenic, that surged through the small town of Bento Rodrigues, swept down the Doce River, and ultimately poured into the Atlantic Ocean. The flood killed 19 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, and contaminated water supplies, habitats, and farmland along a 370-mile stretch. According to a United Nations report cited by Financial Times, about 60 million cubic meters of tailings were released, rendering the Doce River—the region’s main source of clean water—unsafe and uninhabitable for years.
The environmental and social costs have been staggering. Indigenous communities, particularly the Krenak people, have struggled for a decade to survive along the polluted riverbanks. As Shirley Djukurna Krenak, an indigenous leader, told Sky News, the international climate summits held in Brazil feel “removed from the realities faced by indigenous peoples, and full of ‘greenwashing’ and false promises.” She added, “If all the previous COPs had worked, we wouldn’t still be talking about crimes like this.”
The legal action against BHP was brought in the UK because the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange at the time of the collapse. The case, led by the international law firm Pogust Goodhead, represents a staggering 620,000 claimants—making it the largest environmental group action in English legal history. The High Court’s ruling found BHP liable under Brazilian law, both as a ‘polluter’ and at fault under Brazil’s civil code. Judge O’Farrell determined that BHP’s decision to keep raising the dam’s height was “a direct and immediate cause” of the disaster, a finding that could reverberate through boardrooms and courtrooms worldwide.
BHP, for its part, has announced plans to appeal. The company insists that it has already paid significant reparations and that the UK group action duplicates efforts underway in Brazil. In a statement reported by Australian Financial Review, BHP said, “More than 610,000 people have already been compensated in Brazil, including approximately 240,000 claimants from the UK group action who have provided releases for related claims.” The company noted that since 2015, BHP Brasil, Vale, and Samarco have provided US$13.4 billion for reparation and compensation in Brazil, with more than US$6.3 billion in direct payments to affected individuals.
In October 2024, BHP, Vale, and Samarco inked a comprehensive agreement with Brazilian authorities and public defenders, committing R$170 billion (about US$32 billion or £20 billion) for full and final settlement of key claims related to the dam failure. This Brazil Agreement, as BHP calls it, is designed to fund water sanitation, public health, economic recovery, infrastructure, collective damages for affected Indigenous and Traditional Communities, and income support for the most vulnerable. According to BHP’s 2025 Annual Report, the company estimates an aggregate provision of US$5.5 billion as of October 31, 2025, with expected cash outflows of US$2.2 billion for fiscal year 2026 and US$0.5 billion for fiscal year 2027. Vale, meanwhile, announced an additional estimated expense of $500 million (£381 million) in its 2025 financial statements to cover obligations linked to the disaster.
Yet, for many survivors, the struggle for justice and restoration continues. Gelvana Rodrigues da Silva, who lost her seven-year-old son Thiago in the flood, expressed a bittersweet sense of closure after the ruling. “Finally, justice has begun to be served, and those responsible have been held accountable for destroying our lives,” she said in a statement shared by Sky News.
The legal saga is far from over. The High Court’s decision is just the first stage in a multi-year process. A second trial, scheduled for October 2026 to March 2027, will determine whether the losses claimed by the group action’s 620,000 claimants were directly caused by the dam failure. If so, a third stage trial—unlikely before 2028—will require each remaining claimant to prove individual damages before BHP is required to make payments. The company’s liability, and the ultimate scale of compensation, remain to be finalized.
BHP has repeatedly argued that the UK proceedings are unnecessary, given the scope of the Brazil Agreement and the compensation already paid. The English High Court, however, upheld the validity of waivers signed by those already compensated in Brazil, which should reduce the size and value of the claims in the UK group action. Still, the possibility of billions of dollars in additional payments looms, and BHP’s provision for the Fundão dam failure may yet need further adjustment as new facts emerge and legal proceedings unfold.
The disaster’s legacy also extends beyond the courtroom. In 2016, Brazilian federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against BHP and Samarco, but the groups were acquitted after agreeing to the massive settlement with authorities. In September 2025, BHP agreed to pay $110 million to settle a separate Australian class action lawsuit brought by investors who alleged the company had misled them about the dam’s safety standards.
Meanwhile, the physical and psychological scars remain. The toxic mudslide destroyed water supplies, vehicles, habitats, livestock, and livelihoods. Ten years on, the Krenak people and other riverside communities are still contending with contamination and the slow pace of reconstruction. According to Sky News, resettlement of the communities of Novo Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu is 98% complete, but environmental remediation is still underway. The dam itself halted operations after the disaster and only resumed in December 2020.
As Brazil hosts the COP30 climate summit in the Amazonian city of Belém, the Fundão disaster serves as a sobering reminder of the gap between lofty climate ambitions and the lived experiences of those on the frontlines of environmental harm. For many, the High Court’s ruling is a step toward justice—but the road to true restoration remains long and uncertain.
With further trials on the horizon and billions in potential damages at stake, the world will be watching how BHP, Vale, and the courts balance corporate responsibility, environmental justice, and the urgent needs of affected communities in the years to come.
