Hydrocarbons remain the principle supply of energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in developed countries have become increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit fractional co2 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk into the atmosphere and pollute the environment with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will are as long as 130 million by the end of 2030 each home and office will likely use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already asserted that they are going to ban all vehicles taking care of 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 mind.
Take, for example, cobalt. Over 60 % of cobalt are extracted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a significant amount of employment for individuals throughout DRC but a substantial percentage may be tainted by illegal child labour.
In 2017, world leading companies including BASF, Enel and Volkswagen met with the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos to discuss 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, targeted at prohibiting the use of child labour and promoting battery recycling to increase the sustainability in the industry.
The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s commitment to help tackle child labour inside the Democratic Republic in the Congo. He hopes that through the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of kids in mining within the battery supply chain will probably be addressed.
Through longstanding partnerships including while using Good Shepherd Sisters and Pact, Eurasian Resources Group is targeted on helping tackle child labour and strengthen child protection norms.
In 2018 and early 2019, ERG continued to compliment a lot more than 10,000 students through its educational initiatives within the DRC.
Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds that the global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants across the value chain including children and local communities in the DRC.