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The plaintiffs accused the five companies of joining suppliers in a "forced labor" venture by purchasing cobalt, which is used to make lithium-ion batteries that are widely used in electronics.
International Rights Advocates, Inc. filed an injunctive relief and damages class-action lawsuit against Apple, Microsoft, Dell, and Tesla in December 2019. [1] The plaintiff was representing fourteen Congolese parents and children seeking relief and damage fees for these companies aiding and abetting the use of young children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) cobalt mining industry. [2]
Around 75 per cent of the world’s cobalt is mined in the DRC -- and the world cannot get enough of it. The rare, silvery metal is an essential component to every lithium-ion rechargeable battery ...
The lawsuit claims that the named companies benefited from and aided and abetted child labor in mining companies' cobalt operations. It is argued that Glencore-owned mines sold cobalt to Umicore, which then sold the cobalt to be used in lithium batteries in Apple, Microsoft, Dell, and Tesla products. [122]
Kamala Harris wants to help secure steady supplies of cobalt, lithium, and nickel as she pursues a re-industrialization policy that differs from Joe Biden’s approach in some key ways.
Mining in the DRC is also notorious for human rights violations. [5] [7] The Idaho cobalt mine is located in a cobalt belt that was mined intermittently beginning in the late 1800s. Full scale cobalt mining began at Blackbird mine in 1949 and was closed in the late 1980s leaving contaminated water and a superfund site. [7] [8]
The report also highlighted a neighborhood in Kolwezi, home to 39,000 people, that has been facing continuous demolitions since 2015 to make way for an open-pit copper and cobalt mine.
Globally, most cobalt is used to manufacture lithium-ion batteries. Some estimates indicate a 5000% increase in electric vehicle manufacture between 2016 and 2030 to meet CO 2 emission targets in the Paris Agreement. This has created a mining boom for cobalt, copper, and other minerals critical for manufacture of electric vehicle batteries. [8]