Benedikt Sobotka made a stand against child labour at cobalt mines

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Benedikt Sobotka: We have a responsibility towards children in countries where us extracts garbage to the batteries industry.

Hydrocarbons remain the main way to obtain energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in western world have become increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit carbon dioxide www.businesscloud.co.uk into the atmosphere and pollute mid-air with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will are as long as 130 million in the end of 2030 each home and office may use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already declared that they’ll 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 your mind.

Global social responsibility

Take, for instance, cobalt. Over sixty-six per cent of cobalt are extracted in the Democratic Republic in the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a lot of employment for individuals throughout DRC but a sizable 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 talk about business ethics in minerals extraction for that manufacture of batteries. As a result, the businesses came together to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group like a founding member, geared towards prohibiting the application of child labour and promoting battery recycling to boost the sustainability of the industry.

The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s resolve for help tackle child labour in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He hopes that from the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of children in mining inside battery supply chain will probably be addressed.

Eurasian Resources Group supports children inside the DRC

Through longstanding partnerships including with the 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 support a lot more than 10,000 students through its educational initiatives within the DRC.

Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds how the global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants throughout the value chain including children and local communities inside the DRC.