![]() What was the most surprising thing you learned when researching this book? At this stage, there is not much that individuals can do to ensure tech and EV companies enact these policies, other than to continue spreading awareness and agitating for change. Invest in local communities to return some of their immense profits to the people who make those profits possible. Treat the artisanal miners of the Congo the same way they treat employees in corporate headquarters. Enforce human rights and sustainability principles vigorously and consistently. ![]() ![]() Establish mechanisms to reliably inspect and audit their supply chains, all the way to the artisanal mining level. What should companies do to positively impact the abuses you describe in your book? Are there things the average person can do?Ĭompanies should just do the things they say they are doing. Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post/Getty Here, the highway linking Kolwezi and Lubumbashi, a critical part of the Copper Belt, where batteries made from that cobalt are practically nonexistent. The Katanga region of the DRC holds more reserves of cobalt than the rest of the planet combined. It is certainly important to try to diversify the supply chain, but such policy does little to reduce the harms being suffered every day in the Congo. In the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress set conditions requiring that a minimum percentage of minerals and components for electric vehicle batteries need to come from the U.S. These initiatives will help meet future demand. Current recycling technologies must still be improved to maintain the high-grade output that is needed for EV batteries. The world is scrambling to find alternate cobalt deposits, including those under the ocean floor, but it will take years of development to bring these resources to market. Common element may help solve lithium battery woes of electric carsĭoes your book strengthen the case for more exploration and development in North America? Does it also strengthen the case for the recycling of cobalt? Or would this sever an economic lifeline for the people of Congo?.companies operating in the DRC, and there is not as of yet enough known alternate sources of cobalt to wrest control of the chain from China. is trying to play catch-up, but there are no U.S. They dominate copper-cobalt mining in the DRC, they dominate EV battery metal refining and they dominate rechargeable battery manufacturing. What are the implications of that for workers in the Congo? The geopolitical implications?Ĭhina cornered the global cobalt supply chain before anyone realized what was happening. Alternative battery chemistries are being developed, but this does not exonerate any of these companies from the harm caused by cobalt mining to this point, and for years to come.Ī key Chinese priority has been to acquire cobalt mines and to dominate the market for processing it. EV manufacturers know the clock is ticking on cobalt reserves, as demand will far outstrip supply in the coming decades. We should not tolerate a green future that is achieved through acts of violence against the people and environment of the Congo. Is the human cost of mining cobalt worth the benefits? And is there enough cobalt in the Congo or elsewhere? Yet the quantity of cobalt required for EV batteries is a significant issue. Sebastian Meyer/GettyĮVs are hailed as the future of transportation, to protect the world from carbon emissions. Cobalt is toxic to touch and breathe in, yet young miners like this one in Kolwezi, do just that daily.
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