The Human Cost of EVs: human rights abuses, child labor & environmental pollution.
Many claim electric vehicles are the future. And nearly every electric vehicle sold worldwide includes key minerals that are found in only a few locations. One country that holds the lion’s share of two critical minerals is also where environmental pollution, human rights abuses, and child labor are an everyday occurrence. We caution readers they may find some images disturbing.
In that particular part of the industry there are significant problems around child labor, extorted labor, exploited labor, and of course lots of injuries.
“In that particular part of the industry there are significant problems around child labor, extorted labor, exploited labor, and of course lots of injuries,” according to Anneke Van Woudenberg.
Van Woudenberg is referring to mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The country produces about 70% of the world’s cobalt. It has virtually all known manganese deposits. Both minerals are critical to manufacture electric vehicle batteries. The World Bank reports Congo is one of the poorest nations on the planet. Mining is its key revenue source.
Van Woudenberg continued, “And you'd be hard-pressed today to find an EV that doesn't have Congo's cobalt in it. So it's what links you, me, and all of the rest of us to the DRC.”
One ugly reality of that link is child labor. The US Labor Department reports about a third of Congolese children as young as five are engaged in labor after their school day is over. Or they work full-time with no schooling.
There may be more than 160,000 children under the age of 18 are engaged in mining.
The US Labor Department estimates 40,000 children work in the DRC mines. Other estimates are there may be more than 160,000 children under the age of 18 that are engaged in mining. Exact numbers are difficult to confirm. Children work mostly in the smaller and sometimes illegal mining operations, referred to as artisanal mines, that rely on manual labor rather than mechanized excavation methods.
You shouldn't leave behind a toxic mess, a polluted environment.
Van Woudenberg is executive director of Rights & Accountability in Development (RAID), a global watchdog that exposes corporations for environmental harm and human rights abuses. She’s lived and worked in the Congo for more than a decade and has witnessed conditions first-hand. Her in-country team has identified both worker mistreatment and environmental disasters.
“You shouldn't leave behind a toxic mess, a polluted environment,” she told us.
RAID has documented mine waste that has made some waters unfit for fish, crops, farm animals, and people. Studies (here, here, here, here, here) have shown rivers near working and abandoned mines have been severely polluted with untreated mining waste. Several rivers are deemed toxic for human and animal life. Some nearby villages are considered “sacrifice zones,” a term coined to represent communities uninhabitable due to environmental contamination.
Extreme levels of pollution and toxic waste are believed to have caused serious health issues with skin, vision, respiration, digestion, miscarriages and birth defects.
The ambassador from the Democratic Republic of the Congo agreed to speak with us, but canceled before an interview date was finalized.
Van Woudenberg believes positive changes can result from partnerships among developed nations, the mined countries, organizations such as hers, and pressure from consumers. This is where Aimee Boulanger and her group comes in. She’s executive director of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA).
Boulanger told Inside Your World, “Our computers, our phones, our cars, our building materials, our jewelry, all of these things are made with materials that come from mines.”
Our computers, our phones, our cars, our building materials, our jewelry, all of these things are made with materials that come from mines.
IRMA works with stakeholders like the automotive industry to ensure raw materials such as minerals for EVs are ethically-sourced. Seven of the nearly 40 auto manufacturers that sell EVs in the US have partnered with IRMA. Those seven car companies track vehicle parts from their origin to the finished vehicle to ensure they are clean.
Boulanger expects more car companies will join the effort. This matters. According to a recent survey, 7 in 10 US consumers would prioritize buying from companies that have ethical sourcing strategies in place.
“So, ethically sourced ideally means that people's human rights are protected, that they're safe when they go to work, that their drinking water is safe, that the cultural heritage for a community that they've enjoyed over multiple generations is being protected,” she noted.
So you do need some societal pressure on corporations to comply with good practices. It's not an easy solution.
Bob Galyen is a world-renowned expert on EVs. He was the lead battery engineer for General Motors EV1, the short-lived electric vehicle that was ahead of its time when it debuted in 1996. After GM, he was the chief technology officer for CATL, the Chinese company that leads the world in battery manufacturing. China also controls many of the EV-related mines in the Congo. He’s aware of the challenges of ethical sourcing.
“The big players are policing that themselves, but the small players, they probably can't afford to do that. So you do need some societal pressure on corporations to comply with good practices. It's not an easy solution,” Galyen observed.
“Those supply chains are not easy, though, to follow,” correspondent Mark Hyman asked.
“No, they are not,” Galyen replied.
Some of the critical elements needed for EV batteries come from just a handful of locations.
Boulanger noted, “You don't change where in the world minerals are.”
You don't change where in the world minerals are.
Some of these nations with precious resources are struggling with internal challenges. The Congo suffered from autocratic rule and civil war since the 1960s. Its current democracy is still young and faces threats from bordering states and internal actors. It survived a failed coup attempt in May.
Boulanger concedes domestic instability can complicate documenting a mineral’s path from source to the showroom floor. She told us, “There are often 5, 10, a dozen steps between the original extraction of raw material and the end product that you might buy.”
She says no matter how challenging, the effort is worth it. She and Van Woudenberg believe scrutiny by groups like theirs, the developed countries that buy the resources, local governments, the news industry, and the public will usher in needed changes where problems exist.
“I think the world is changing,” Van Woudenberg observed. “And I think increasingly consumers are demanding that the products that they buy are ethically sourced.”
Anneke Van Woudenberg and Aimee Boulanger told Inside Your World that global attitudes are driving changes. The days of stripping mines and leaving behind a toxic mess are slowly giving way to a commitment to leave mined areas clean and safe.
