We have already reported in several articles about various sharepics or posts that claim that children in Congo are working in cobalt mines, which is used to produce the raw material for the production of electric car batteries.
Child labor
Around 64 percent of the cobalt comes from the Congo. The work in the cobalt mines is hard, unsafe and poorly paid. Mining often takes place in illegal mines. – Conditions that are often unimaginable for us.
And yes, children are often used to mine cobalt, which corresponds to the sad reality and has often been reported .
cobalt
Yes, cobalt is actually an important component for the production of batteries - including for electric cars. But our smartphones also have a battery. Our digital cameras, every notebook, battery-powered household appliances... all of these “everyday devices” have batteries.
So it's almost a little bit "unfair" to attribute the full blame for the harsh conditions for cobalt extraction solely to electric cars. This is a one-sided presentation of the issue and is only too readily used as a tool for political agendas, as we explained in one of our articles .
Solution approach: fewer electric cars?
The fact that fewer electric cars mean that child labor would no longer take place is a nice, albeit incorrect, assumption. Child labor is only part of the problem, as the “Handelsblatt” reports.
The fact is: children are involved in small-scale mining. “These include seven-year-old children who search for cobalt in discarded waste products from industrial mines and sort and wash the ores before they are sold ,” writes Amnesty International in a report .
It is also true that it is of course possible for that cobalt to be used to make batteries for electric cars. In order to prevent this, the VW Group and BMW found a solution for the automotive industry. The origin of the cobalt for their electric cars should be traced or they would like to completely avoid cobalt that comes from the Congo.
Conclusion
Yes, children are employed in cobalt mining. However, only part of the actual problem is addressed here, since cobalt is not only found in the batteries of electric cars, but is used to make all batteries. Major electric car manufacturers are aware of the problem of child labor and want to ensure that their cobalt comes from legal and traceable sources.
You might also be interested in: Tesla: “Autopilot” users will be monitored in the future
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