lithium mining slavery

At present, we still dont have enough data about the sea floor to be sure what the impact would be of mining there, said Adrian Glover, a deep-sea ecology researcher at the Natural History Museum. The glamourous shop displays and marketing of state of the art technologies are a stark contrast to the children carrying bags of rocks, and miners in narrow manmade tunnels risking permanent lung damage. However, when we do, its going to be a big question for society. Ganfeng said in November it had won a new three-year deal to provide battery-grade lithium hydroxide products to Tesla, and has previously disclosed other contracts with companies including BMW. To this day, worshipers in nearby Lipez region explain the salt flats origin witha traditional legend: It is the mothers milk of their Apu, a female volcano named Tunupa. A new metal-free battery platform could lead to more sustainable, recyclable batteries that degrade on demand. "People are working in subhuman, grinding, degrading conditions. Password, My One of the largest lithium mining operations, taken . In Chile, for example, where the majority of the worlds lithium is extracted, many workers are paid as little as $1 per hour and are not provided with adequate safety equipment. It goes back to the year 2009 under the previous president in the Congo, Joseph Kabila. Extracting the raw materials, mainly lithium and cobalt, requires large quantities of energy and water. However, around 20 percent of cobalt produced in the Congo originates from artisanal mines where workers mine cobalt on a small. Along With the Carbon Footprint of Lithium Mining: Slavery and a Devastating Legacy Refers to the Social Impact of Lithium-Ion Batteries. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. Sometimes they're called commandos and they will abduct children, traffic children, recruit children from even other parts of the Congo. In the case of cobalt, 60% of the worlds supply comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where large numbers of unregulated mines use children as young as seven as miners. Today, an estimated 40.3 million people more than three times the figure during the transatlantic slave trade are living in some form of modern slavery, according to the latest figures published by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation. It places all of Chinas battery production at risk of violating US law and global norms around human rights, and that risk is only going to grow as China continues to build up EV-relevant industries in Xinjiang.. In Argentina, however, there are no signs of a turnaround in lithium mining. "If the pandemic taught us anything, if the pandemic taught us anything, it's resilience, redundancy and reliability in our supply chains," Trudeau said. In one village we visited, people showed us how the water in the local stream that they drank was contaminated by the discharge of waste from a mineral processing plant.. China in response accused Ottawa of using national security as a pretext and said the divestment order broke international commerce and market rules. But the fact remains that the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries has led to the occurrence of modern-day slavery. And the thing is, imagine the Congo. According to the International Seabed Authority, some deposits contain millions of tonnes of cobalt, copper and manganese. And yet, lo and behold, at most of the industrial mines, there is some artisanal mining taking place. In fact, the history of these competing notions is deeply entwined with the history of the colonial era, as different culturescame into violent conflict. If you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you. Unlike its neighborsChile and Argentina, Bolivia has yet to become a major player in theglobal lithium market. These potato-sized globs of mineral are rich in copper, cobalt, manganese and other metals. Lynn Savarese/MacMillan For example, when asked by Amnesty International whether it sourced cobalt from CDM or Huayou Cobalt, Microsoft responded by saying: We have not traced the cobalt used through our supply chain to the smelter level due to the complexity and the resources required., These are some of the biggest companies in the world, with combined profits of $125 billion and there is no excuse that companies arent investing some of that profit into ensuring that they can trace where the minerals they are using are coming from, says Dummett. At stake: fragile. Which language would you like to use this site in? Chinese firms also own, operate or finance most of the Democratic Republic of Congo's cobalt mines, the U.S. Labor Department said in a recent report. Terms & Conditions. Our mission to create cleaner living using natural resources could itself cause widespread environmental harm, scientists now warn. The lawsuit said the children, some as young as 6 years old, were forced by their families' extreme poverty to leave school and work in cobalt mining owned by the British mining company. Elon Musks Tesla buys lithium from a Chinese company that is exploring for minerals in Xinjiang. 7. Matt Absalom-Wong. of two Canadians on spying charges. And you've got these militias. Cobalt is often mined by children exploited in dangerous and illegal child labor (dol.gov). The report says that Huayou Cobalt sources more than 40% of its cobalt from the DRC and processes the raw mineral before selling it to battery makers, who claim to supply companies including Apple, Microsoft and Vodafone. In turn, they sell to battery makers who claim to supply technology and car companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Daimler and Volkswagen. But if I've done some justice to bringing those voices out into the world that can scarcely function without the suffering of the Congolese people, then it's all worth it. The DRC produces at least 50% of the worlds cobalt. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice| Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information| Ad Choices Because we don't use slave labor," Trudeau said in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. And I'm afraid that . Amnesty Internationals investigation uses investor documents to show how Huayou Cobalt and its subsidiary CDM process the cobalt before selling it to three battery component manufacturers in China and South Korea. Kitco Account, Gold retreats as robust US data lifts dollar; focus on Fed, Sotheby's doubles down on NFTs with the launch of a secondary marketplace, S&P, Dow edge higher as JPMorgan gains; Fed meet in focus, Jamie Dimon bails out First Republic - and FDIC, Collapse of First Republic shows banking turmoil is not over, gold price flirts with $2,000 level, Monday's Charts for Gold, Silver and Platinum and Palladium, May 1, Where are the stops? The concept of raw materials can be traced to the theological notion of prime matter. The term originally comes from Aristotle, whose work was introduced to Christianity via Latin translations around the 12th century. by child labor," it said. in sectors including mining and construction. Several children said they had been beaten by security guards employed by mining companies and forced to pay fines by unauthorised mines police sent by state officials to extort money and intimidate workers. The true figure is unknown as many accidents go unrecorded and bodies are left buried in the rubble. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. One solution put forward to these green technology problems would be to limit the exploitation of resources on land and turn instead to the sea to gather the materials we need. It's a demise that is almost impossibly horrific to imagine. WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Cobalt is used in the manufacture of almost all lithium ion rechargeable batteries used in the world today. Before anyone knew what happened, Chinese companies had seized ownership of 15 of the 19 primary industrial copper-cobalt mining concessions down there. suggested that nearly every major automaker has significant law took effect banning imports from China's Xinjiang region There they breathe in cobalt-laden dust that can cause fatal lung ailments while working tunnels that are liable to collapse. Siddharth Kara is an author, researcher, screenwriter, and activist on modern slavery. to be more expensive. A cobalt mine between Lubumbashi and Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Due to research done by Volkswagenag in 2018: The global market for the alkali metal lithium is growing rapidly. People just don't know what's happening down there. The DRC produced approximately 74% of the world's cobalt in 2021. Technically, under the law, there should not be artisanal mining taking place in any industrial mine. The ethical issues come from the artisanal mines, where one can find thousands of people, including children, mining for cobalt. China in response accused Ottawa of using national The first democratically elected president of the Congo [in 1960], Patrice Lumumba, made a pledge that the country's immense mineral riches and resources would be used for the benefit of the people who live there. It's a war-torn, deeply impoverished nation that has been subjected to generations of pillage and ransacking going all the way back, now centuries, to the slave trade. Ganfeng has a vast network of operations and projects spanning Australia to Argentina, which could give clients options to avoid the use of raw materials produced from future Xinjiang sites, according to Seth Goldstein, a Chicago-based equity strategist at Morningstar, who covers Tesla and battery supply chain firms. "We shouldn't be transitioning to the use of electric vehicles at the cost of the people and environment of one of the most downtrodden and impoverished corners of the world," he says. I met children who had come from hundreds of miles away and have been brought through militia networks down into the copper cobalt mines to dig. The new company was registered in May in the regions capital Urumqi with capital of about 90 million yuan ($20 million). Any indication that Tesla, or another EV or battery manufacturer, is in fact collaborating with businesses that seem plausibly to be using forced labor would be very concerning to investors, said Richard Clayton, research director at SOC Investment Group, which works with union pension funds that manage assets worth more than $US250 billion ($367 billion) and hold Tesla shares. Because we don't use slave labor," Trudeau said in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world's materials for solar panels. Children told Amnesty International they worked for up to 12 hours a day in the mines, carrying heavy loads to earn between one and two dollars a day. And if they choose the latter, that means bringing all their kids into these toxic pits to dig just to earn that extra fifty cents or a dollar a day, that could mean the difference between eating or not. Carmakers electric dreams depend on supplies of rare minerals, Mining firms face scrutiny over Congo deals. In November, Canada ordered three Chinese companies to Two multinationals denied sourcing cobalt from DRC. He told researchers that prolonged time underground made him constantly ill: I would spend 24 hours down in the tunnels. The money will be used to construct a plant. Lithium and Cobalt are two crucial components to create electric vehicles and many batteries. Cobalt is often mined by children exploited in dangerous and illegal child labor (, Due to research done by Volkswagenag in 2018: The global market for the alkali metal lithium is growing rapidly. Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. In the so-called Lithium Triangle of South America made up of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia vast quantities of water are pumped from underground sources to help extract lithium from ores, and this has been linked to the lowering of ground water levels and the spread of deserts. Five denied sourcing cobalt from via Huayou Cobalt, though they are listed as customers in the company documents of battery manufacturers. Democratic Republic of Congo's cobalt mines, the U.S. Labor A recovery in prices would disappoint carmakers. A collection of moments during and after Barack Obama's presidency. For these cultures, nature is not a means to human ends. Ganfeng Lithium, Chinas top lithium producer, is partnering through a subsidiary with a state-backed entity to accelerate exploration for and potentially develop lithium, nickel and other critical metal assets in the region. More than 60% of the world's supply of cobalt is mined in the "copper belt" of the south-eastern provinces of DRC. The US and its allies have sanctioned individuals and entities with ties to Xinjiang and curbed some imports from the region over concerns about human rights breaches and the alleged use of forced labor. He says that although the DRC has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the planet combined, there's no such thing as a "clean" supply chain of cobalt from the country. The church and the empire believed it was critical todesacralize these more-than-human beingsand treat them as mere resources. So in the 21st century, this is modern-day slavery. Similarly, highland groups recognize mountains not as a set of inert rocks, but as ancestral guardians calledAchachilas in AymaraandApus in Quechua. As the Spanish discovered the mineral bounty of the so-called New World, like gold and silver, they began an intensiveextraction of its riches, relying on forced labor from local people and imported slaves. "If the pandemic taught us anything, if the pandemic taught The customer could likely request to buy lithium from Ganfengs other operations, he said. On Friday he ordered remaining ones back to the office, The housing market is shiftingjust look at earnings published by 2 giant Fortune 500 homebuilders, CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. A representative for the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment. Electric vehicle makers already face criticism over labour concerns and environmental damage tied to the extraction of metals used in their products. Rather than renouncing cobalt entirely, he says people should focus on fixing the supply chain. Titled "This Is What We Die For," the report traces the. But that looks poised to change: In January 2023, state company YLBsigned an agreementwith the Chinese consortium CBC, which includes the worldslargest producer of lithium-ion batteries, tointroduce a new methodcalled direct lithium extraction. "Because we put forward environmental responsibility as something we actually expect to be abided by. Canada has significant sources of lithium, Trudeau said, but With Chile producing 8 million tons of lithium, that means they used 17.6 trillion liters of water. In some cases, predominantly artisanal mining is taking place. Big brands have the power to change this.. A lithium producer for car makers including BMW and Tesla is beginning work to assess battery metals projects in Xinjiang, deepening links between electric vehicle supply chains and a region at. The United States has alleged use of forced labor by China in sectors including mining and construction. divest from Canadian critical minerals, citing national It's not chattel slavery from the 18th century where you can buy and trade people and own title over a person like property. Amnesty International and Afrewatch are calling on multinational companies who use lithium-ion batteries in their products to conduct human rights due diligence, investigate whether the cobalt is extracted under hazardous conditions or with child labour, and be more transparent about their suppliers. Global demand for cobalt is increasing, but the global cobalt market remains largely unregulated as it falls outside conflict mineral legislation regulating the extraction and sale of other mineral such as gold, coltan and tin from the DRC. The risks to the EV sector of inputs coming out of Xinjiang is huge, said Emily de La Bruyere, a co-founder of Horizon Advisory, a US-based consultancy focused on forced labour issues. The United States has accused China of using forced labour in sectors including mining and construction. Between 2008 and 2018 alone, annual production in the major producing countries rose from 25,400 to 85,000 tons. Because we count Today, electric vehicles are widely considered part of the solution to theclimate crisis. And in short order, within six months, he had been deposed, assassinated, chopped to pieces, dissolved in acid and replaced with a bloody dictator, a corrupt dictator who would keep the minerals flowing in the right direction. In the way Christians adapted his idea of prime matter, everything wasordered by its level of perfection, ranging from the lowest level prime matter, the most basic stuff of the world to rocks, plants, animals, humans, angels and, finally, God. Canada last year announced a tougher policy on critical mineral investment - particularly from China - as it worked to shore up its domestic supply after the global pandemic exposed supply chain problems. an Account, Activate An artisanal miner carries a sack of ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi, DRC, on Oct. 12, 2022. Amnesty International contacted 16 multinationals who were listed as customers of the battery manufacturers listed as sourcing processed ore from Huayou Cobalt. Miners working in areas from which CDM buys cobalt face the risk of long-term health damage and a high risk of fatal accidents. China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer us anything, it's resilience, redundancy and reliability in our Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). to ramp up production of the metal used in electric vehicle and "If we're honest the lithium produced in Canada is going Amnesty International researchers also found that the vast majority of miners spend long hours every day working with cobalt without the most basic of protective equipment, such as gloves, work clothes or facemasks to protect them from lung or skin disease. Last year, a U.S. law took effect banning imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor. At least 80 artisanal miners died underground in southern DRC between September 2014 and December 2015 alone. This notion was also used by Christian colonizers who were intent on destroying traditions that they saw as idolatrous. WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday linked the production of lithium in China to "slave labor" as he discussed his own country's efforts to ramp up production of . He said Canada hadsignificant sources of lithium, but China hadmade strategic choices over decades that hadmade it by far the world's largest producer. The report, This is what we die for: Human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo power the global trade in cobalt, traces the sale of cobalt, used in lithium-ion batteries, from mines where children as young as seven and adults work in perilous conditions. Because we count on working with, in partnership, with Indigenous peoples, paying their living wages, expecting security and safety standards.". Companies in the sector face significant reputational, regulatory, and potentially legal risks stemming from the environmental and human rights practices associated with battery metals mining, he said. Elon Musk's car company Tesla is among five of the world's tech giants accused of aiding child labour in Africa. So they dominate mining excavation on the ground. Companies whose global profits total $125 billion cannot credibly claim that they are unable to check where key minerals in their productions come from, said Mark Dummett. The human rights group claims to have traced cobalt used in lithium batteries sold to 16 multinational brands to mines where young children and adults are being paid a dollar a day, working in life-threatening conditions and subjected to violence, extortion and intimidation. Yet they will necessitatea mining surgetomeet their battery demands. Even the nightmares and the terrors, it's all worth it. The DRC produced approximately 74% of the world's cobalt in 2021. Diplomatic tensions between Canada and China have been running high since the detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing's subsequent arrest of two Canadians on spying charges. They say that rising demands for traditional materials such as cement for building hydro-electric dams or for copper, to provide cables to link wind and solar farms to cities and to build electric cars, could also cause widespread environmental damage unless care is taken. China has repeatedly denied the accusations, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian previously describing the accusations as the lie of the century. However, extraction initiatives have facedsevere setbacksin the last few years, includingsocial protests, the 2019political crisisanda lack of necessary technology. Hoovering up the nodules could devastate these life forms, marine scientists have warned. However the mining and processing of these materials often involve many labor and ethical malpractices, such as child labor and borderline slavery. More than half the worlds supply of cobalt comes from the DRC, with 20% of cobalt exported coming from artisanal mines in the southern part of the country. executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing's subsequent arrest Lithium and cobalt mining for electric cars has been controversial globally for years, in part because of its environmental destruction, the short lifespan of batteries and in some countries,. has an estimated $24 trillion in untapped minerals. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. In Xinjiang, the resource is at an early stage of exploration and its currently uncertain whether theres suitable projects available for future development, Ganfeng said. Mining companies and related businesses want to accelerate domestic production of lithium and are pressing the administration and key lawmakers to insert a $10 billion grant program into Mr. Biden . There are some incidents that are just so burned into me that they'll come at me just like a terror, and it's hard. Amnesty International and Afrewatch are calling on multinational companies who use lithium-ion batteries in their products to conduct human rights due diligence, investigate whether the cobalt is extracted under hazardous conditions or with child labour, and be more transparent about their suppliers. Siddharth Karas plan is to uncover the truth about the brutal, illegal, and underaged mining practices that help produce 75% of the worlds cobalt. Their production is likely to increase significantly over the next decade and that could cause serious ecological problems. This is because removing these raw materials can result in soil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, damage to ecosystem functions and an increase in global warming (euronews.green). He said that some of the company responses to Amnestys assertions were staggering. Refining These three battery component manufacturers bought more than US$90 million worth of cobalt from Huayou Cobalt in 2013. I pray for change, 'Most renewable energy companies' linked with claims of abuses in mines. Minera Exar is a Canadian company extracting lithium from the region. "Industrial mines, almost all of them, have artisanal miners working, digging in and around them, feeding cobalt into the formal supply chain.". A lithium-ion battery, the type found in most smartphones, tablets, and electric vehicles The Biden administration also recently entered an agreement with Zambia and the DRC to rinse the supply. Ganfeng supplies BMW with lithium from mines in Australia and has not informed the company about its Xinjiang venture, the German car maker said in a statement. Amnesty International then contacted 16 multinational consumer brands listed as direct or indirect customers of the three battery component manufacturers. According to the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor), Over 70%. None of them have supports, ventilation shafts, rock bolts, anything like that. The 17-year-old escaped the mines and now attends the school with the help of Good Shepherd, a Catholic charity. "As like-minded democracies, as major economies, we need to work together to meet this moment.". Bureau of International Labor Affairs (an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor), Over 70% of the worlds cobalt is extracted from mines in The Democratic Republic of Congo. China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world's materials for solar panels. Governments must put an end to this lack of transparency, which allows companies to profit from misery.. And while those outside of the DRC differentiate between cobalt extracted by the country's high-tech industrial mining companies and that which was dug by artisanal miners, Kara says the two are fundamentally intertwined. I met people whose legs had been amputated, who had metal bars in where their legs used to be. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Gisele Grayson adapted it for the web. This article was amended on 4 January 2021 because an earlier version referred to abysmal plain when abyssal plain was the intended reference. Canada last year announced a tougher policy on critical mineral investment particularly from China as it worked to shore up its domestic supply after the global pandemic exposed supply chain problems. Vodafone, in its response to Amnesty, stated that the company is unaware as to whether or not cobalt in our products originates in Katanga in the DRC both the smelters and the mines from which the metals such as cobalt are originally sourced are several steps away from Vodafone in the supply chain. In November, Canada ordered three Chinese companies to divest from Canadian critical minerals, citing national security. There's money to be made in every corner and every direction. Last year, a USlaw took effect banning imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labour. Lithium and Cobalt are two crucial components to create electric vehicles and many batteries. This puts the South American country ahead of Australia (2.7 million tons), Argentina (2 million tons) and China (1 million tons) (, In an interesting article about South Americas lithium fields by Maeve Campbell, last updated November 21, 2022, it states that any type of resource extraction is harmful to the planet. David Attenborough calls for ban on 'devastating' deep sea mining, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. "Our research shows that lithium-ion batteries are produced with an input - cobalt - made by child labor," it said. 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