Communities living near mines, dams and renewable energy projects owned and operated by Canadian companies across Colombia have spoken out about alleged environmental harms and human rights abuses. A new documentary series, produced by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, shines a light on serious abuses, including the killings of activists, health impacts, destruction of sacred sites and fishing areas, and disregard for ancestral heritage.

Over 60 people interviewed for the documentary Expolio spoke out about the devastating impacts on their homes, lives and livelihoods as Canadian companies – including Gran Tierra Energy, Isagen (part of Brookfield), Libero Copper, Frontera Energy and others – pursue profits in Colombia. In 2023, these cases were submitted to the United Nations (UN) as part of Canada’s Universal Periodic Review – the process by which UN member states have their human rights records assessed every 4.5 years. However, two years later, their voices remain unheard.

Abuses covered in the documentary include allegations linked to mining, oil and gas companies, as well as renewable energy companies operating in the wind and hydropower sectors. Abuse linked to renewables as well as extraction of minerals needed for the energy transition – including copper and gold – raise serious concerns for a rights-respecting shift to clean energy in Colombia. As these cases demonstrate, a fast transition will only be possible if it is also a fair one: where transition mineral mining and renewable energy projects do not disregard human rights, and their projects do not produce abuse, distrust, delay and cost.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre asked all the companies to respond to the allegations raised; their responses and non-responses are available here.

The full documentary can be watched here (under embargo until Monday 18 August 2025).

Fabián León, Colombia Programme Manager, Researcher and Representative at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “Canada’s reputation on the global stage is based on high human rights standards and progressive climate action. Yet in Colombia – which the Canadian government even describes as an "attractive market" for frequently harmful industries including mining, defence and security, agriculture, and oil and gas – communities affected by the operations of these industries report a litany of human rights abuses.

“Although Canada presents itself to the world as a benchmark for high human rights standards, its companies in countries such as Colombia systematically violate rights, as more than 60 testimonies from individuals and communities affected by Canadian companies point to systemic rights abuses and a lack of corporate accountability, raising concerns about how the Canadian government is complicit, by action and omission, while its companies benefit financially from rights abuses in other countries.

“These communities and individuals have clear messages for Canadian companies, investors and government officials: they are asking for recognition of the rights of people living alongside these huge extractive projects; for adherence to established environmental standards; for people to be able to raise their legitimate concerns about major development on their territories without fear the retaliation will cost them their life. These are basic demands of one of the world’s biggest economic powers making huge profits by operating in Colombia, one of the most dangerous places on earth to speak out against corporate abuse.”

Key issues and allegations raised in the documentary include:

Disregard for Indigenous Peoples’ rights (episode 1):

"Some young people are eventually recruited to join the armed groups because there is no longer the option to survive on the food produced by the land.” -- Oscar Buesaquillo, defender, San Miguel de la Castellana

• The Indigenous Inga community in Putumayo report environmental damage and destruction of sacred spiritual sites caused by seismic oil exploration activities by Gran Tierra Energy, which began operations in the area in 2012.
• In La Guajira – a region notorious for abuse linked to coal mining since the 1980s – the Indigenous Wayúu community are once again fighting for their rights in the face of alleged damage to community livelihoods and sacred sites and inadequate consultation linked to wind farms operated by Isagen, majority owned by Canadian company Brookfield.

Environmental damage and labour rights abuses linked to copper mining (episode 2):

“With the arrival of the company to this area, we lost all the agricultural vocation that Carmen de Atrato used to have. Today we are at the point where we do not have food.” -- Ramón Cartagena, Social and Environmental Roundtable, Carmen de Atrato

• Local communities living near Libero Copper’s Mocoa mining site – currently undertaking drilling exploration and set to become the company’s biggest copper mine and flagship project – express severe concerns about the effects of drilling and mining activity on the highly fragile ecosystem, especially water sources, in one of the most biodiverse territories in the world.
• People living near El Roble copper mine in Chocó, operated by Atico Mining-owned Minera El Roble S.A., report harm to their livelihoods and to the Atrato river, declared a subject of rights in Colombia in 2016 in one of the first examples globally of granting rights to a natural ecosystem.

Flooding and destruction of fishing and farming sites linked to hydropower (episode 3):

“We had a life planned. What do we have today? Nothing.” -- Cecilia Mantilla, local resident

• People living near the Hidrosogamoso dam, owned by Isagen (majority owned by Brookfield), report alterations to their crops, sudden flooding of their lands and “ecocide” affecting fish on which local communities depend for food and income.

Attacks against human rights defenders and risks to water access linked to gold mining (episode 4):

“People who defend their lives, their land and their territory from corporate actors are threatened, harassed, sued and even killed.” -- Juan Espinosa, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

• Residents of mountainous Falan, Tolima, express their concerns about access to water as Canadian companies Miranda Gold, Baroyeca Gold & Silver and Outcrop Silver & Gold seek to ramp up gold mining. Locals say the company presented them with no choice about gold mining in the area.
• Community members who have opposed the mine report threats and attacks. Local man Johan Aguilar was murdered in September 2023 just one day after his father, Wilder Aguilar, spoke out about threats he had received for opposing gold mining at a public meeting.
• In Antioquia, ancestral fishing and customs have reportedly been lost as people can no longer make a living from damaged fishing environments. Locals report environmental damage and mercury contamination in the area, where Mineros S.A. - a Colombian company listed on the Toronto stock exchange and with investment from Scotiabank – has been extracting gold for several decades.

Shrinking civic space and attacks against people who speak out against oil drilling (episode 5): 

“We weren’t displaced by paramilitary groups here. But the companies are displacing us.” - Fernando Rondón, resident of Orocué

• In Casanare, locals report neglectful abandonment of Frontera Energy’s former oil extraction site, leaving open pools in the oil well where livestock and other animals have drowned.
• Human rights defenders also face lawsuits, violence and attacks when they speak out against the industry. In Casanere, Frontera Energy has reportedly sued local activists who have opposed their activities.
• Yopal communities report similar incidents with Gran Tierra Energy’s El Portón project: the company reportedly prosecuted human rights defenders who peacefully protested against the project.
• Human rights defenders call on the Canadian government to properly regulate the actions of Canadian companies abroad and ensure Colombian activists and organisations can safely defend their rights.

Interviews with researchers and affected individuals and communities who appear in the documentary are upon request.

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Notes to editors: 

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) is a global organisation working at the intersection of business and human rights. With partners and allies worldwide, we seek to put human rights at the heart of business to deliver a just economy, climate justice, and end abuse.
• About Expolio: A documentary series exploring the uncomfortable gap between Canada’s image and its impact abroad, asking what happens when profit is prioritised over people. Although Canada presents itself to the world as a benchmark for high human rights standards, its companies in countries such as Colombia systematically violate rights, as more than 60 testimonies from individuals and communities affected by Canadian companies point to systemic rights violations and a lack of corporate accountability. Watch the trailer here.
• The documentary comes as rights groups across Colombia launch their campaign for a new law to govern irresponsible business: The project of the century: justice in the face of corporate power. Eleven organisations, along with Congress Representative Alirio Uribe, filed a new bill on 31 July which, if adopted, would establish human rights provisions for companies, guarantee access to justice and comprehensive reparation mechanisms for workers and communities affected by corporate harm.
• Interviews with researchers and affected individuals and communities who appear in the documentary are upon request.

Media contact: Priyanka Mogul, Senior Communications Officer (Media/PR), Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, [email protected]