Hydrocarbons remain the main supply of energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in western world have become increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit fractional co2 Benedikt Sobotka in the atmosphere and pollute air with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will are 130 million in the end of 2030 and each home and office will more than likely use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already declared that they’re going to ban all vehicles working on petrol or diesel fuel in central areas. The way everything is going, batteries will replace the environmentally damaging coal and oil as fuel sources.
Minerals for batteries have to be extracted and processed with robust safety standards, proper working conditions, norms for responsible extraction and business ethics in your mind.
Take, for example, cobalt. Over sixty-six per cent of cobalt are extracted inside Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a lot of employment for individuals all around DRC but a big percentage may be tainted by illegal child labour.
In 2017, world leading companies including BASF, Enel and Volkswagen met at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos to go over business ethics in minerals extraction for that creation of batteries. As a result, the companies came together to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group as being a founding member, geared towards prohibiting the usage of child labour and promoting battery recycling to improve the sustainability from the industry.
The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s commitment to help tackle child labour in the Democratic Republic with the Congo. He hopes that with the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of youngsters in mining within the battery supply chain is going to be addressed.
Through longstanding partnerships including using the Good Shepherd Sisters and Pact, Eurasian Resources Group focuses on helping tackle child labour and strengthen child protection norms.
In 2018 and early 2019, ERG continued to aid a lot more than 10,000 students through its educational initiatives inside the DRC.
Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds how the global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants over the value chain including children and local communities inside DRC.