SwissInfo

Cobalt must be included in Swiss responsible business legislation

After the Responsible Business Initiative failed at the ballot box last year, the Swiss government is holding consultations on a new law to hold companies accountable for the adverse impact of their operations on people.

The scope of the due diligence duty under the new law is much narrower than the original initiative in that it only requires companies trading or processing metals and minerals to conduct human rights due diligence if the products come from “conflict and high-risk areas” or where “child labor may be involved”. Yet cobalt, arguably the hottest commodity for many years to come, is not on the list. GSEM Professor Dorothée Baumann-Pauly argues that it should be, as although cobalt is a strategic mineral in the transition to green energy, it has also been linked to serious human rights violations.

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