Electric Car Manufacturers Must Address Human Rights Risks By Being More Transparent, Amnesty International
A new report by Amnesty International is calling upon electric car manufacturers to be more transparent. This includes addressing the different kinds of risks to human rights that might exist inside supply chains.
As per the governing body, communities are at high risk of factors like health hazards, exploitation, and damage to the environment. This is all thanks to the growing use of mining for metal elements to produce car batteries.
Today, the demand for electric vehicles worldwide has grown and many of us need more metals such as cobalt, copper, nickel, and lithium. As per Amnesty, 13 leading car manufacturing companies were investigated and how they are handling workers’ rights, especially those in the mining sector.
Amongst those included Mercedes who ranked the highest, scoring a whopping 51 out of 60. In second place with 49 was Tesla, and following closely behind included Stellantis, Volkswagen, BMW, and Ford. These were all categorized as Average in meeting standards. Amongst those rated poorly included Mitsubishi and Hyundai.
We’ve seen Amnesty International roll out similar shocking claims for international firms for causing intimidation at mining sites in places like Congo. Here is where the local populations were most at risk and many human rights were violated at the same time.
As per the report, it’s the locals who suffer the most through the hands of greedy and powerful multinational firms who look for their best interests only. The same was the case in nickel mining regions like the Philippines, two years back.
While the sector is working on it and made a lot of progress since when it began, there’s a lot of work that still must be done, the report concludes. This includes using global influence because big mineral buyers must pressurize mining firms to be more aware of human rights risks. They must show empathy to others and not just greed for money.
It’s a long journey but one that must begin today, the report adds. Transparency about the processes used to get raw materials is the first step to success.
Image: CHUTTERSNAP / Unsplash
