Tarea Vida – Tackling Climate Change
“Tarea Vida” (Project Life) is a Cuban state plan to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities to climate change. This plan was adopted by the Cuban government in April 2017 to address climate change in the Cuban national territory through adaptation and mitigation measures.
This plan has been adopted by the Moa Nickel Site and OGP and was advanced throughout 2020. The joint ventures are pursuing various resilience projects, including rehabilitation, renewable energy use, decreasing water consumption, reducing emissions and effluents, and education and environmental awareness. A detailed work plan for 2020 was approved by the Moa Joint Venture Board of Directors and will be implemented throughout the year.
The Moa Nickel Site is focused on four strategic domains: water availability and efficient consumption, reforestation, climate change mitigation and control measures, and improving risk perception and knowledge on climate change. Some of the activities that have taken place at the Moa Nickel Site as part of Tarea Vida include:
- Rehabilitation of over 40 hectares of mined areas;
- Maintenance of over 450 hectares of previously reforested areas;
- Construction of 30 settling ponds and maintenance of 25 settling ponds;
- Replacement of over 2,280 light bulbs with energy-efficient LED lights;
- Purchase and commissioning of solar lighting and generators for the mining camps;
- Acquisition of two electric mini-vans, which have been delivered, as well as two pickup trucks and forklifts to arrive in early 2022;
- Installation of hermetic seals on thickeners to improve air quality in the operating plants; and
- Exceedance of yearly targets for recycling used oil and raw materials.
Additional actions to implement Tarea Vida at Moa Nickel include communication with workers through informational brochures, as well as through the internal television system, which regularly presents information on climate change and Tarea Vida. Content on this topic has also been incorporated into training for new hires. Environmental training courses on Tarea Vida, environmental incidents and hazardous waste management were provided to operators.
OGP is also taking action to support Tarea Vida. Some of OGP’s actions include:
- Monitoring and tracking water quality by permanently monitoring supply wells;
- Monitoring and tracking emissions concentration through the air quality monitoring program; and
- Covering topics related to Climate Change and Danger, Vulnerability and Risk in the Training Plan.