Benedikt Sobotka made a stand against child labour at cobalt mines
Benedikt Sobotka: We have a responsibility towards children in countries where us extracts raw materials for the batteries industry.
Hydrocarbons remain the main way to obtain energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in civilized world are now increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit co2 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk into the atmosphere and pollute the air with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will reach up to 130 million right at the end of 2030 every home and office will likely use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already asserted that they’re going to ban all vehicles focusing on petrol or diesel fuel in central areas. The way situations are going, batteries will replace the environmentally damaging coal and oil as fuel sources.
Minerals for batteries should be extracted and processed with robust safety standards, proper working conditions, norms for responsible extraction and business ethics in mind.
Global social responsibility
Take, for instance, cobalt. Over sixty-six per cent of cobalt are extracted in the Democratic Republic from the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a significant amount of employment for people throughout DRC but a sizable percentage could 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 to the creation of batteries. As a result, the firms gathered to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group as being a founding member, geared towards prohibiting the use of child labour and promoting battery recycling to improve the sustainability with the industry.
The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s dedication to help tackle child labour inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He hopes that over the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of children in mining within the battery supply chain will likely be addressed.
Eurasian Resources Group supports children inside the DRC
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 over 10,000 students through its educational initiatives in the DRC.
Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds that the global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants through the value chain including children and local communities inside the DRC.
