Amnesty International: EV Industry Contributes to 'Alarming and Pervasive Human Rights Abuses'
A new report by Amnesty International “reveals how the world’s leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are not adequately demonstrating how they address human rights risks in their mineral supply chains, potentially leaving communities exposed to exploitation, health risks and environmental harm caused by the rapid expansion of mines required for the metals used in batteries.”
Here are some excerpts from the report:
As global demand for battery minerals soars, the report calls for car makers to identify and mitigate human rights risks in their supply chains such as forced evictions, health harms from environmental pollution, and abuse of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in countries where minerals are extracted such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Philippines.
“The huge rise in demand for the metals needed to make electric vehicle batteries is putting immense pressures on mining-affected communities,” said Amnesty’s International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard.
“The human rights abuses tied to the extraction of energy transition minerals are alarming and pervasive and the industry’s response is sorely lacking. Communities are suffering from forced evictions, health issues caused by pollution and difficulties accessing water. As demand for electric vehicles increases, manufacturers must ensure people’s human rights are respected.”
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“Mining for the minerals used in electric vehicles can entail huge risks for people and the environment. Amnesty International’s previous research has shown how industrial cobalt is linked to forced evictions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Car companies need to use their massive leverage as global minerals buyers to influence upstream mining companies and smelters to mitigate these human rights risks,” said Agnès Callamard.
In terms of supply chain mapping disclosures, companies like BYD, Geely Auto, Hyundai, General Motors, and Mitsubishi Motors scored the lowest, failing to provide detailed information about their supply chains. Furthermore, BYD does not disclose smelter, refiner, or mine site names. Geely Auto provided only general supplier locations without specifying mineral extraction sites.
Hyundai and Mitsubishi Motors demonstrated a similar lack of transparency, with no evidence of comprehensive supply chain mapping or mine site identification for cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel, making it difficult for stakeholders to verify how these operations affect nearby communities.
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“As the global transition to electric vehicles gains momentum, drives global competition and allows for huge profit, Amnesty International is calling on all car makers to improve their human rights due diligence efforts and bring them in line with international human rights standards,” said Agnès Callamard. “We are also calling on governments to strengthen their own human rights due diligence regulation over the companies incorporated on their territories or their exports and import licenses.”
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Comment:
While Amnesty International’s report places pressure on companies and some governments to act to improve their human rights actions and records, the one word you will not find anywhere in the release about the report is the word “China,” where human rights abuses, including the mass use of slave labor, remain rampant.
So, while this report is in some ways commendable and does shine a much-needed spotlight on one of the many harsh realities that pervade this propagandized, government-forced energy transition, it completely buries what should be the main lede.
Why does that not surprise me?
That is all.
“huge profits” and “gains momentum.” What are they smoking over there at Amnesty International???
I saw an article years ago of a man in Chile. He had a P/U truck and a spade mining lithium. He stated that he would only live two years, he knew the lithium would kill him. The reason he mined the poison was his family would never want for anything after he was gone.