Pierre is mining for cobalt, one of the world's most sought-after minerals, and a key ingredient in the batteries that power most electric vehicles (EVs). Amnesty International and Afrewatch published a new investigative report (embedded below) explaining in details the global supply chain of cobalt and the use of child labor to source the mineral . So, even though many big brand companies claim to have a zero tolerance policy towards child labour, cobalt somehow seems to be the exception to the rule. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently took swipes at Apple, the largest company in the world, over the use of . Lawsuit accuses Apple, Google, Tesla and others of profiting from child labor in Africa cobalt mines. Cobalt is an expensive metal used in electric car batteries, costing about $35,000 per ton. Story by Cate . The U.S. Labor Department lists Congolese cobalt as a product it has reason to think is produced by child labor. (AFP via Getty Images) Tesla 's board of directors is encouraging shareholders to vote against annual reporting on discrimination and harassment, additional reporting on child labour, against. . The use of subcontractors across the global supply chain only makes matters worse. One of the central allegations in the lawsuit is that Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla were aware and had "specific knowledge" that the cobalt they use in their products is linked to child. Cobalt extraction in DRC has been linked to child labour. The names Tesla, Renault and Volvo mean nothing to Pierre*. The mineral cobalt is used in. Out of fear of being associated with mining firms that access cobalt through child labor, some individual tech companies have decided to stop purchasing from small-scale miners altogether. . Though the estimates of children working in these mines vary widely, the DOL report cites one. Cobalt is up 150% in the last year, but it's likely to see far higher prices due to a severe deficit. -2.41%. Lawsuit against Apple, Google, Tesla, and others (re child labour, DRC) Many of the mines use child slave labour. Snapshot: In 2019, IRAdvocates, a US-based NGO filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, Google, Tesla, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Dell alleging the corporations profited from child labour in their cobalt supply chains in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the mines, each child is given a burlap bag and instructed to gather small pieces of cobalt by hand. Tesla alone will require 7,800 tons of cobalt for the half-a-million Model 3 s the company expects to be producing annually by 2018. Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada.It had a population of 1,118 at the 2016 Census. They're accusing the firms of "aiding and abetting child labour" in Congolese cobalt mines. Tesla is leading the race to cobalt-free EVs May 26, 2022 - 2:28 pm. Unfortunately, not much. Elon Musk's car company Tesla is among five of the world's tech giants accused of aiding child labour in Africa. Updated Google-parent Alphabet, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla have been accused of "knowingly benefiting from and aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to mine cobalt," a key component of the lithium-ion batteries that these companies obtain from suppliers like Glencore, Umicore, and Huayou Cobalt to power their products. Mining declined significantly by the 1930s, together with the local population. In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver; the silver ore also contained cobalt.By 1910, the community was the fourth highest producer of silver in the world. Apple, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla are among the tech companies named in a lawsuit brought in the US by the families of children killed and maimed in cobalt mining activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He has never heard of an electric car. Congo Uses Child Labor in their Cobalt Mines, So Let's Mine Cobalt in Minnesota, Instead Where do the metals used for your smartphone come from? Date: 15 Dec 2019 Content Type: Article; View full timeline Load more View less.

A Tesla 2017 . "Because Tesla recognizes the higher risks of human rights issues within cobalt supply chains, particularly for child labor in . The batteries use cobalt, and three quarters of all the world's supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. March 5, 2018 / 7:40 AM / CBS News A CBS News investigation has found child labor being used in the dangerous mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Plaintiffs are either guardians of children killed in cobalt mining tunnels or children who were maimed while working in the mines. A lawsuit accuses Apple, Google, Tesla, Microsoft and others of using cobalt mined by child labour. Umicore refines it and then sells the product on to the five companies in this case. For instance, Tesla struck a deal with Glencore in 2020 to ensure cobalt demand is met for new plants in China and Germany [6]. The processed cobalt from Glencore is then sent to the defendants. Tesla lithium mine child labor This includes taking a proactive approach to reducing environmental . A mining truck drives past an open pit excavation at the Mutanda copper and cobalt mine in Mutanda, Democratic Republic of Congo. A class action lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., in 2019 is seeking to hold Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla accountable for profiting off the misery of child labor in their quest for cobalt. Out of fear of being associated with mining firms that access cobalt through child labor, some individual tech companies have decided to stop purchasing from small-scale miners altogether. Tesla also requires that all of its suppliers, sub-suppliers, and mining companies in its supply chain follow Tesla's Code. Apple and Tesla were accused in a human rights lawsuit over their role in the promotion of child labour. 16. A lawsuit accuses Apple, Google, Tesla, Microsoft and others of using cobalt mined by child labour. CNN found children working in artisanal cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nonprofit group International Rights Advocates this week filed a . Renault said it would respond to Amnesty "at the earliest possible time," but provided no other information. Concern about how cobalt is mined "comes to the fore every now and again," said . Battery-powered vehicles are the most promising alternative, but for the foreseeable future, they depend on cobalt, a mineral found primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where child labor and unsafe mining conditions are common. More children will be exploited and lives lost amid a surge for cobalt Credit: Corbis - Getty. The U.S. Department of Labor has documented the nature and scope of the cobalt problem in the DRC. Cobalt is a key ingredient in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in a number of products including electric vehicles and consumer technology. 603799. The lawsuit said the children, some as young as 6 years old, were forced by their families' extreme poverty to leave school and work in cobalt mining owned by the British mining company Glencore.. According to Macquarie Research, the deficit for the next year will be 885 tonnes. Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Tesla, and Google's parent company, Alphabet are facing legal action in a U.S. Federal Court after a coalition of researchers and lawyers filed a complaint on Monday, 16 December 2019. The work is An international advocacy group has accused Apple, Google, Microsoft, Dell and Tesla of "knowingly benefiting from" the use of young children to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo.. Child Labor.

But it did not respond when asked to confirm its cobalt was 100% free from child labor. Cobalt mining in the Congo is often done by children as many as 40,000 working in brutal and unsafe conditions. Lawsuit against Apple, Google, Tesla, and others (re child labour, DRC) Concentrated in one area (the southeastern province of Lualaba, near the border with Zambia), cobalt mining has become a source of income for many of the country's struggling population. That's more cobalt than is mined in North America in a year. An international advocacy group has accused Apple, Google, Microsoft, Dell and Tesla of "knowingly benefiting from" the use of young children to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Musk, who has said Tesla will eventually produce no-cobalt batteries, has a contract to buy at least 6,000 tons of cobalt a year from Glencore, the world's biggest cobalt trader, which has. Elon Musk is one of the biggest thieves of the DRC. Joseph Maggs, former Policy and Campaigns Intern at Liberty. 3. Date: 15 Dec 2019 Content Type: Article; View full timeline Load more View less. He was killed when a tunnel collapsed at . In this way, it is difficult to determine whether cobalt from artisanal mines entered this complex supply chain. The clean energy revolution hinges on the Democratic Republic of Congo where conflict, corruption, and child labor are rife. Schalk van Zuydam, Associated Press "Our children are dying like dogs." Legal complaint lists Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Tesla and Google's parent company Alphabet as defendants. Which isn't democratic at all. Children as young as 8 years old; yes CHILDREN are risking their lives everyday, while simultaneously being exposed to toxic dust and fearing that one day a tunnel will collapse in on them, essentially burying them alive, just to continue the mining of cobalt ore for Tesla. In 2019, some of the world's major tech companies, including Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Microsoft, Dell and Tesla, were taken to court in Washington DC by 13 Congolese families, whose children allegedly died or were severely injured while mining cobalt in the DRC.

The other big source of . Several US tech companies are being accused of benefiting from cobalt that's mined by children in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The suggestions have been made in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing for the company's annual meeting, to be held on 4 August 2022. Mine income can be channeled into local schools to cut down on child labor, and . Since 2016, Apple has actively engaged with Huayou Cobalt to identify and address child labour in its supply chain. If Tesla was to buy the Thacker Pass project, Tesla would even do well, though, if it was able to produce at the mine for $10,000 a ton, since the company is paying out of pocket $12,000 a ton for. DRC cobalt is essential to the operations of the defendant tech companies. Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla were all named as defendants in a lawsuit about child labor, injury, and death of children in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Pathways to Just Digital Future Watch this tech inequality series featuring scholars, practitioners, & activists Five tech giants - Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla - are in human rights advocates' sights for allegedly "aiding and abetting" the use of children to mine cobalt in the . Most of Congo's cobalt is a by-product of large copper mines which cannot quickly increase their output and have little incentive to do so unless copper prices also rise. Cobalt, currently trading at $80,000 a ton, has led to an increase in mining in the Katanga region. IRAdvocates Files Forced Child Labor Case Against Tech Giants Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla for Aiding and Abetting Extreme Abuse of Children Mining Cobalt in DRC. Most of Congo's cobalt is a by-product of large copper mines which cannot quickly increase their output and have little incentive to do so unless copper prices also rise. Cobalt mining has been associated with human rights issues like forced child labour and severe environmental damage near mining locations. 12. This week, Tesla joined the Fair Cobalt Alliance, a new group formed to advocate for improved mining practices. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is responsible for producing 15% to 30% of Congolese cobalt. A new lawsuit accuses several of the world's largest technology firms of knowingly profiting . Earlier this year, Apple became the first company to publish the names of its cobalt suppliers, and Amnesty's research shows it is currently the industry leader when it comes to responsible cobalt sourcing. A subsidiary of the mining giant Glencore owns many of the mines where these children work. Andre clocks into his job at the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo at 7 in the morning, and he leaves at 6 at night. The other big source of . But as he heads out to work each morning in the bustling, dusty town of Fungurume, in the Democratic Republic of Congo's southern mining belt, he is t . Tesla's board of directors is encouraging shareholders to vote against annual reporting on discrimination and harassment, additional reporting on child labour, against collective bargaining, and against an annual report on Board diversity.. 29 january 2020 , by Mike Mwenda. Tesla is not only tolerating child labor in its cobalt sc it is tolerating the death and maiming of young child miners." In regards to human rights, I believe that all companies should do their. General Motors (GM) and Tesla did not reply to a request from Amnesty International to provide evidence of how they identify and address human rights abuses in their cobalt supply chains, particularly in relation to child labour. Begin. Cobalt mining is linked to child labor and loss of habitat to local wildlife -- and its use is increasing. WASHINGTON A new lawsuit accuses several of the world's largest technology firms of knowingly profiting from children laboring under brutal conditions in African cobalt mines . A CBS News investigation of ch . Story by Cate . Glencore supplies the cobalt ore to Umicore N.V., a Belgian company which traces its lineage back to the time of the brutal colonial Congo Free State.