Mining for electric cars from BYD, Tesla and Volkswagen is linked to serious human rights violations
Mining companies face hundreds of reports of abuses and automobile companies continue to buy minerals from them. According to the latest report from the Business and Human Rights Resource Center (BHRRC), a non-profit organization, the extraction of minerals used to make electric vehicles and batteries is fraught with reports of abuse. And automakers continue to source materials from some of the worst offenders.
Since 2010, the BHRRC has documented 631 reports of human rights abuses relating to seven key minerals used in electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries and renewable energy technologies. Many of the complaints were made against a small group of companies, which managed to link themselves to three of the largest electric vehicle manufacturers in the world: Volkswagen Group, Tesla and BYD.
“Things are not getting better,” said Caroline Avan, director of natural resources and just transition at the BHRRC. The need for more renewable energy and clean transportation is clear, but these technologies should not harm the people who live and work in the places where companies source their raw materials, she said.
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“Things are not getting better”
“The fight against climate change is a human rights imperative right now, but it should not be seen as a license to ignore human rights in mining operations,” said Avan.
Electric cars and the demand for minerals
An electric vehicle requires approximately six times more minerals than a typical gas-guzzling car. Demand for critical minerals used in electric vehicles and storage batteries for renewable energy could increase tenfold by 2040, according to a conservative estimate from the International Energy Agency. The race to get all these minerals without worrying about ensuring they are extracted humanely is where the problems arise.
The BHRRC's latest report includes possible abuses related to the mining of seven minerals: bauxite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel and zinc. The entity has been tracking these allegations since 2019 using publicly available records, including court documents and regulatory resources, as well as reports from other non-governmental organizations and media outlets.
In the last year alone, 91 new complaints were detected, including a “sharp increase in labor rights violations and worker deaths”, which accounted for approximately 40 percent of new reports in 2023. Across its entire dataset dating back to 2010, labor violations, including 53 work-related deaths, represent a quarter of all reports. For 2023, alleged attacks against human rights defenders, water pollution and threats to access to water are also clear problems.
91 new complaints were found in the last year alone, including a “sharp increase in labor rights violations and worker deaths”.
Since 2010, more than half of complaints have been filed against just 10 companies. State-owned China Minmetals now leads the pack, overtaking Swiss multinational mining giant Glencore, which has held the top spot for the past two years.
Mining and the main companies involved
When reviewing the sustainability reports and media coverage of the world's three leading electric vehicle manufacturers, a history of agreements with Glencore and China Minmetals was found.
To boost its electric vehicle ambitions, Volkswagen signed a deal with Glencore and battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) in 2017, Reuters reported. Under the agreement, CATL would purchase 20.000 metric tons of cobalt products from Glencore for Volkswagen's electric vehicle batteries.
In 2023, VW's battery division PowerCo initially agreed to support a SPAC deal along with Glencore and Stellantis to buy nickel and copper mines in Brazil, although the deal reportedly fell through later that year due to to disputes over prices. Volkswagen has also identified gold sourced by Glencore in its supply chain, according to its 2023 Responsible Raw Materials Report. The company declined to comment on the BHRRC's findings but said it is working to comply with the new Due Diligence Act of the German Supply Chain.
Tesla buys nickel from a Glencore mine in Australia and cobalt from two Glencore mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the company’s 2021 and 2022 impact reports. In 2022, workers at one of those cobalt mines spoke out about unsafe working conditions, with no water or adequate breaks and little food or pay. Cobalt is often called “the blood diamond of batteries” because of the dangers workers face when extracting it.
Neither Tesla nor Glencore immediately responded to requests for comment. Tesla's 2022 impact report explains that the company conducts audits of its suppliers to improve working conditions at each location and ensure “corrective actions” are taken to resolve any issues. The company promotes “working with suppliers when problems arise rather than walking away.”
BYD's rise in the electric vehicle market
Last year, Chinese company BYD surpassed Tesla to become the world's largest seller of electric vehicles, despite its vehicles not being available in the United States due to high tariffs. China Minmetals also outperformed Glencore this year, racking up more abuse allegations than any other company in the BHRRC report.
BYD does not mention its more than 10.000 suppliers in its 2023 CSR report (Tesla and Volkswagen only provide a partial list in their reports). But it is said that Hunan Changyuan Lico, a subsidiary of China Minmetals, is one of the suppliers of material for BYD's lithium batteries. BYD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an independent report by environmental and human rights groups published in February, auto companies were ranked based on the progress they made in eliminating environmental damage and human rights abuses. Tesla came in third place, behind Ford and Mercedes-Benz, in this assessment. Volkswagen came in sixth place and BYD came in 16th out of 18 companies.
Automakers are arguably not the only industry that has a lot of work to do to prevent abuses in their supply chains. The rechargeable batteries that power many of the devices we use in our lives are made from many of the same materials cited in these reports.
Governments, mining companies and the manufacturers who buy their products must take action to end abuses, says BHRRC's Avan. This includes adopting policies that prioritize human rights and empower people to have a say in projects that could affect their communities.
“When it comes to a large amount of blatant and serious negligence in occupational health and safety in mines, it is not science. These things can be solved”, says Avan. “What [manufacturers] should do is interact with the mining sector, ask questions and present requirements and expectations for better protection of human rights.”
Each of the 10 companies that, according to the BHRRC, have received the most reports of human rights violations. Three of them responded that they respond to reports of abuse and implement changes as a result, including Freeport-McMoRan, Solway Group and Tenke Fungurume Mining.
Neither China Minmetals nor Glencore immediately responded to a request for comment. But a Glencore spokesperson commented on the BHRRC report last year in an email: “Our assets are located in diverse contexts, some… in more challenging socio-political circumstances with a history of conflict, limited basic services and a state weak law… we work in partnership with government, civil society and development agencies to share knowledge, build capacity and contribute to lasting social and economic results.”