Historical responsibility for colonial mining pollution

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

The House of Lords is scheduled to consider the following question for short debate on 8 January 2026:

Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat) to ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the United Kingdom’s responsibility to ensure that mining companies which operated in former British colonies during colonial rule address pollution that their activities caused in those countries.

1. Mining and the British Empire

Mining, the process of extracting useful minerals from the surface of the Earth, has taken place since prehistoric times; the oldest known underground mine in the world was sunk more than 40,000 years ago at Bomvu Ridge in the Ngwenya mountains, Eswatini, to mine ochre used as body colouring and in burial ceremonies.^[1]

It is difficult to estimate the extent of mining which took place in British colonies during colonial rule. The British Empire existed for approximately three centuries, starting in the late sixteenth century and included a wide range of countries at different points in its history, these included colonies in Australia, Canada, India, the West Indies and Africa.^[2] Some indication of the scale of mining can be seen in the 1908 book by Ralph Stokes ‘Mines and Minerals of the British Empire’. The book sought to provide an overview of the historical, physical and industrial features of mines in the British Empire which he had observed between 1906 and 1908.^[3] The book highlighted the wide variety of mining activities taking place in the British Empire during that period, including gems and graphite in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), mica and manganese in India, rubies and petroleum in Burma (now known as Myanmar), gold and copper in Queensland and copper, gold, silver and lead in Tasmania and cobalt in Canada.

Mining still plays an important role in the UK economy. In 2022, the British Geological Survey estimated that there were approximately 2000 mines in the UK.^[4] Some 176.3mn tonnes of minerals were extracted from the UK landmass for sale in 2023 and a further 82.6mn tonnes, consisting mainly of oil and gas (oil equivalent), but also marine–dredged sand and gravel, were extracted from the UK continental shelf.^[5]

In addition, many of the world’s largest mining companies are headquartered in the UK. The investors and markets in the UK represent a significant source of finance for the industry, and the London Metal Exchange is the largest market for the trade of metals.^[6]

2. Pollution and mining

The environmental impact of mining is varied and can be dependent on the type of material being mined and the age of the mine. Discussing the impact of modern mines, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology notes:

Globally, mining can have major impacts on the environment and communities, both in the immediate vicinity of mining and processing sites, and more widely. It modifies the land surface, often permanently, with associated soil degradation, ecosystem and habitat destruction, and consequent loss of biodiversity. Mine waste storage facilities, including tailings dams, have failed, some resulting in loss of human life, and environmental impacts over a large area of land. Mining is a major source of CO₂ (4.8bn tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Gt (gigatonne) CO₂) in 2015—approximately 10% of the global annual total) and other emissions such as sulphur dioxide, mercury and cadmium. Mining and mineral processing are water intensive—the production of a tonne of copper may require 100 to 250 tonnes of water—competing with other industries and communities for water in arid regions.

Mining and mineral processing activities can impact upon communities, and particularly those that live close to the sites. It may displace people (including indigenous groups), residences, and other industries including agriculture; and can be destructive to cultural and sacred heritage. Mining may foster corruption and inequality if governance is weak. In some cases, demand for mineral resources drives and supports armed conflicts and human rights abuses.^[7]

In December 2025, the United Nations Environment Assembly discussed a proposal by the Colombian government to address environmental risks in mining.^[8] Earlier in the month a dam collapse at a Chinese owned copper mine in Zambia led to at least 50,000 tonnes of acidic debris spilling out into the surrounding waterways and farmland, according to the Zambian government.^[9]

In 2022, research published in the Journal for Cleaner Production which looked at the global environmental costs of mining. The research estimated that overall the environmental costs generated by extraction industries globally are £0.3tn per year. The amount rises to £4tn annually when taking into account future costs, representing 6.4% of global GDP. The research concluded that 64% of all these costs result from climate change.^[10]

2.1 Historic pollution

Identifying historic pollution, and allocating it to functions, such as mining, is difficult. Examining global air pollution in an article in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, David Fowler et al noted:

The early documents are fascinating and provide hints at the underlying chemistry, but are entirely lacking in quantitative detail […] High-quality measurements of air pollutants are restricted to the last 150 years and numerical modelling to the last 40 years, leaving considerable scope for speculation on the early trends.^[11]

The report notes that while air pollution has been noted as a threat to human health since 400BC, “the industrial revolution accelerated both the magnitude of emissions of the primary pollutants and the geographical spread of contributing countries”.

There has been recent work by different organisations examining specific examples of pollution. For example, an October 2025 report by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and Environment Africa Zambia, in partnership with London Mining Network (LMN) and Rights and Accountability (RAID) examined the impact of lead pollution in Kabwe, Zambia.^[12] It linked the pollution to mining between 1925 and 1974. The report was launched at a House of Lords event hosted by Lord Oates.^[13] In the report the director of ACTSA Tricia Sibbons stated:

The Kabwe lead mine was part of the ‘Broken Hill’ mine group owned and operated by Anglo American South Africa (AASA) between 1925 and 1974. The town’s lead mine and smelting operation was one of Africa’s largest, producing tens of thousands of tonnes of lead and zinc. It became the cause of widespread environmental devastation and a health crisis experienced by generation after generation born in Kabwe and in six townships in the vicinity […] The Kabwe case represents a critical test case for how mining industries deal with historic pollution. It presents a warning for what could come as the energy transition accelerates and more fossil fuel and mineral sites are decommissioned. Without accountability, communities will continue to inherit legacies of pollution and health crises that could have been prevented.^[14]

In April 2019, legal firms Leigh Day and Mbuyisa Moleele announced an intention to bring a class action lawsuit against Anglo American South Africa (AASA) on behalf of claimants in Kabwe. The court case was dismissed by the High Court of South Africa in December 2023 and is currently subject to appeal.^[15] Anglo American has argued that it is not liable “for a mine we have never owned nor operated and for pollution and harm that others have caused and freely acknowledged as their responsibility. We do not believe it is correct for the claimants to attempt to attribute legal responsibility to AASA for the current situation in Kabwe”.^[16]

Carbon Brief, a UK based website covering the developments in climate science, climate policy and energy policy has argued that former colonial powers in Europe have “significant historical responsibility” for current climate change.^[17]

While not specifically focusing on mining, the group has carried out an analysis of emissions from 1850 (when they argue warming started) to 2023, which stated that where historical responsibility for climate change takes into account colonial rule it leads to a “radically shifted” position. With the share of historical emissions for the UK nearly doubling, while the Netherlands nearly triples and Portugal more than triples. The analysis argues:

• The UK ranks fourth in the world when accounting for colonial emissions—jumping ahead of its former colony India. Including emissions under British rule in 46 former colonies, the UK is responsible for nearly twice as much global warming as previously thought (130GtCO₂ and 5.1% of the total, instead of 76GtCO₂ and 3.0%).
• The largest contributions to the UK’s colonial emissions are from India (13GtCO₂, cutting its own total by 15%), Myanmar (7GtCO₂, -49%) and Nigeria (5GtCO₂, -33%).
• Africa—the vast majority of which was under colonial rule—sees its share of historical emissions fall by nearly a quarter, from 6.9% to 5.2%. Despite a 21-times larger population, this 5.2% share is only fractionally higher than the UK’s 5.1%.
• These findings reinforce the significant historical responsibility of developed countries for current warming, particularly the former colonial powers in Europe.
• While they account for less than 11% of the world’s population today, together, the US, EU and UK are responsible for 39% of cumulative historical emissions and current CO₂-related warming.^[18]

In May 2025 the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Africa, of which Lord Oates is the co-chair, stated:

If the world is to seriously pursue the steps needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDGs 1 (ending poverty), 7 (clean energy), 8 (jobs and growth), 9 (innovation) and 10 (reducing inequality), then Africa’s energy transition is a concern for all, not least the UK which has historic responsibilities both as a pioneer of the industrial revolution and as the colonial authority in much of Africa for over half the 20th century.^[19]

The report argued that “no other continent has contributed less to CO₂ emissions that have driven climate change, nor suffered more already from its impact”.^[20] It called for greater financial and technological support for Africa’s transition to cleaner energy.^[21] Oxfam, which supports the work of the APPG, has called for any global energy transition to renewable energy be reshaped around “historical responsibility and capacity’”, arguing that “the [energy]transition is unfolding in ways that risk reproducing, or even deepening, the inequalities and injustices of the past”.^[22]

3. Read more

• Action for Southern Africa, ‘Life in the world’s most polluted town’, October 2025
• Oxfam, ‘Unjust transition: Reclaiming the energy future from climate colonialism’, 24 September 2025
• LSE, ‘Explainers: What is the just transition and what does it mean for climate action’, 20 February 2024
• Carbon Brief, ‘Revealed: How colonial rule radically shifts historical responsibility for climate change’, 26 November 2023
• Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, ‘Mining and the sustainability of metals’, 20 January 2022

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Image by Lachlan on Unsplash.