Polluter by Proxy: Norwegian Environmentally Harmful Mining Activities in Brazil as State-Corporate Crime

This article examines the role of state actors in polluting activities across borders, focusing on a case study of Norway’s role in Norsk Hydro’s polluting activities in Barcarena, Brazil from 1967 to 2024. Foreign corporations have long exploited Brazil’s natural resources, with Norwegian enterprises increasingly involved. Norsk Hydro’s operations, particularly at the Alunorte alumina refinery, have caused severe ecological damage. Using state-corporate crime theory and Southern green criminology, this study analyses leaks, toxic waste disposal in rivers and asymmetrical mining standards. To assess environmental standards, this study conducted interviews, document analyses, site visits and literature reviews. Our findings indicate that Norwegian public and private interests are intertwined, with profit motives undermining environmental aspirations and stated policies. This tendency to subordinate environmental protection abroad to financial expediency domestically is generalized through the concept of polluters by proxy. This concept attempts to represent types of activities where state actors produce environmental harm abroad and benefit economically while distancing themselves from direct responsibility by taking advantage of corporate structures.