I by IMD

Urgent action is needed to protect Congolese cobalt miners

The mineral Cobalt is a vital component of electric car batteries, but small-scale miners, including children, are working in harsh conditions. GSEM Professor and Director of the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights Dorothée Baumann-Pauly writes that alliances need to be forged in the supply chain to make sure cobalt is responsibly sourced.

Blockchain traceability, the production of cobalt-free batteries, and automating cobalt mining do not provide solutions to the problems in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over two thirds of the world’s cobalt is produced, and more than half of the world’s cobalt resources are located.

Considering these limitations and conditions, companies that source cobalt must acknowledge that artisanal and small-scale mining is a business reality in their supply chains that they need to address now. And there are at least two ways to do so: directly invest in longer-term formalization projects that address the human rights risks in the battery supply chain, and join alliances that promote formalization.

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