The Environmental, Social and Governance Impacts of Cobalt and Mineral Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Beyond

For centuries cobalt ore was not usually mined for the cobalt content, rather, it was often recovered as a by-product of mining for various other ores such as silver, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese and arsenic. Due to the complex processing required to concentrate and extract the cobalt from these oars this metal has been considered precious throughout history, from being used for jewellery in ancient Persia, to porcelain in Ming dynasty China, humanity has long admired this malleable and at times beautiful substance. However, during the 20th and 21st centuries its uses have expanded to areas such as cancer therapy, radioactive tracers, magnetic alloys and battery materials for electric cars (Gregersen, 2022) making it one of the most in demand metals around the world. Unfortunately, as is so often the case when certain resources come to be considered as valuable, exploitation and destruction is never far behind. Cobalt, which is currently trading at $50,000 a tonne with an expected price floor of $30,000 being put into place by the DRC state for artisanal miners evidences the expected soar in costs to come (Reid, 2021). The high demand and prices for cobalt paired with its limited availability has supposedly brought numerous opportunities for a country such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to improve the lives of its people by providing jobs and finances to a nation which is continuing to heal from the deep wounds of civil war. Regrettably, the reality of cobalt mining in the DRC does not live up to this utopian vision as the mines destroy the natural habitats of endangered species and play host to some of the most severe human rights issues associated with mining anywhere in the world.

The focal point of much of the controversy surrounding cobalt mining in the Congo has been consistently due to the use of child labour, which is prohibited by DRC law. “Of the 255,000 Congolese mining for cobalt, 40,000 are children, some as young as six years. Much of the work is informal small-scale mining in which laborers earn less than $2 per day while using their own tools, primarily their hands” (Flaquer and Lawson, 2021). Mining causes some of the worst hardships and presents some of the most dangerous threats to life for children in the Congo. As 70% of the world’s cobalt is produced in the DRC and the demands for higher levels of production to meet the changing and growing needs of areas such as Europe exert increasing pressure on a country that is already taking shortcuts to meet demand, the artisanal small-scale mines (ASM), producers of 30% of all Congo cobalt, with their well-documented human rights issues, are continuing to pop up all over the DRC (Campbell, 2020). These small mines offer a lifeline to millions of Congolese who are in extreme poverty so simply shutting them down isn’t an option, instead the companies who create the demand need to take responsibility for the actions of all those included in or associated with their supply and distribution chains.

In recent years ‘accountability’ has become the word on everyone’s lips as harrowing accounts of life as a child labourer in the mines of the southern Congo reached international eyes and ears (Sanderson, 2019) carried on the wave of media consumed via mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices which contain cobalt. The wider global population suddenly felt connected to a world they had previously known nothing about even though their lives had been made easier by its presence for decades. Few of us take the time to consider where a product has come from, who made it, and in the case of electronics, what it is made from, yet fewer know the answer to all these questions. So, when ignorance and corruption is rife what can be done to ensure accountability, sustainability, and a better life for those at the bottom of the proverbial food chain. Well, this is where things become far more complex…

The Social, Environmental and Governance Issues Linked to Cobalt Mining

As the push to move away from fossil fuels and live a greener lifestyle takes hold in western nations and across the world the demand we are creating for cobalt is unprecedented. With it, a new style of colonialism has built up in the Congo and in other mineral rich developing countries. In a nation which has arguably seen some of the worst results of historical colonialism, today nations such as the United States and China are vying to purchase cobalt deposits across large swathes of land in the DRC. These nations and investors are exploiting the fragile and poverty stricken economy of the DRC and purchasing natural resources for their sole benefit, without giving a second thought to how mining will affect the indigenous people. The Congolese state is rapidly losing those resources which they could use to help rebuild their nation. Whilst cobalt takes its place as a key player in the clean energy revolution in what is meant to be a new age of awareness and accountability, it has, it appears, instead been “caught in a familiar cycle of exploitation, greed and gamesmanship that often puts narrow national aspirations above all else” (Searcey et al., 2021). Cobalt has been associated with “increases in violence, substance abuse, food and water insecurity, and physical and mental health challenges”. There have also been reports of communities “losing communal land, farmland and homes, which miners literally dug up in order to extract cobalt. Without farmland, Congolese people were sometimes forced to cross international borders into Zambia just to purchase food” (Northwestern University, 2021). The repercussions of mining have touched almost every member of those communities who are centred in and around mines and leaves one contemplating upon whether there are any benefits at all to be had for the Congolese people. Whilst the general pusillanimity of nations such as the US, China or much of the developed world is of little shock when it comes to making commitments to not only become greener but to meet and exceed the SDGs which would ensure an all round better world for the many and not simply the few, we are all left in a difficult position as consumers. As we struggle to find new ways to continue the fight against climate change, securing the affordability of greener options for all, and forcing companies and nations to offer up at least some degree of accountability when engaging in practices such as cobalt mining.

In the case of the Congo this matter is further complicated as 15 of the 19 large-scale cobalt-producing mines in Congo are owned or financed by Chinese companies whose acquisition of said mines was conducted via a disciplined playbook, which looks to have China be not only the world’s emerging clean energy economy but also the controller of global metal supply chains for electric vehicle batteries (Searcey et al., 2021) as can be seen in their current behaviour in Mongolia where Chinese businesses are buying up large tracts of land for lithium mining (Khaikin, 2020). As China stepped up its focus on the shift to green energy the Trump administration in the US continued to extoll the virtues of the fossil fuel industry which has left China open to continue its new strain of colonialism. By buying up precious resources and land and handing out the international equivalent of a pay day loan to developing countries leaving a clear path to attain more assets in the future, China has been admittedly politically and economically savvy; however, its behaviour is already having a negative impact on people around the world. If the previous behaviour of Chinese state backed companies and investments in countries such as Djibouti, Laos, Zambia and Kyrgistan is anything to go by where debts to Chinese moneylenders has become equal to or more than 20% of the countries annual GDP (Wang, 2022), then the choice to accept or do business with China is somewhat akin to knowingly entering into Squidgame. When entire nations and governments struggle to free themselves from China’s web of investments it is no wonder that mine workers who are already trapped in the exploitative system have become “victims of severe exploitation, including wages as low as 30p an hour, precarious employment with no contracts, and paltry food rations. In a number of mines run by Chinese companies, workers have made allegations of discrimination and racism reminiscent of the colonial era” (Pattisson, 2021). With mixed approaches by every company to the working and living conditions of mine workers, some reports have told of every two men sharing one mattress in a hall with 80 other people and makeshift shanty towns lining the edges of mines with no access to clean drinking water, electricity, schools, or healthcare (Pattisson, 2021). Worse still, dozens of employees and contractors have, in interviews with The Times, told horror stories of Chinese ownership leading to a drastic decline in safety and an increase in injuries many of which were not reported to management as when previous concerns were raised by workers they were either assaulted or offered bribes to cover up the accidents (Searcey et al., 2021). Though the impact of cobalt mining on the health and welfare of the miners may appear obvious (i.e. coughing, pain in the lungs, UTI’s etc. (Amnesty International, 2020) considering all the aforementioned facts and lived experiences of the workers the trauma of a life lived in and around these mines is now becoming intergenerational. As the safety of workers takes a backseat, a recent study has found that those being exposed to the dangerous levels of toxic pollution from the mines is leaving miners with a significantly higher risk of having children with birth defects (Kelly, 2020).

The social impacts of mining in the DRC are nothing short of a series of atrocities hidden behind a thin veneer of so called sustainability and greenwashing. However, the greatest calamity of all is the less visible yet far more pervasive environmental destruction that results from cobalt mining. The waste generated from “mining cobalt and other metals can pollute water, air and soil, leading to decreased crop yields, contaminated food and water” (Northwestern University, 2021). Toxic waste resulting from ores being washed and released into local waters has made rivers in the Katanga region unsafe to drink or bathe in due to the high lead content and left native animals exposed to dangerous waters which they have no choice but to drink. The polluted water has also bled over into crops and agriculture making the issues surrounding food security yet more acute in a nation which already struggles to feed its population. Water pollution is not the only pollutant making its rounds in the Congo as the air, filled with particulate matter and dust resulting from drilling and blasting, begins to cause havoc in cities already under the strain of poor air quality. In cities such as Lubumbashi and Likasi the dust and truck traffic combined with the air pollution from mining is exposing the Congolese population to possibly serious health issues (Petit, 2019). The increased dust and desertification of the DRC has in some part been a direct result of deforestation which is increasingly being linked to cobalt mining.

We must distinguish first and foremost between large-scale/industrial mining and artisanal/small-scale mining. As currently the large-scale mining operations in the Congo basin occur in non-forested areas, however, mining exploration and development is also increasing in the equatorial forest region bringing the dense and diverse rainforests of the Congo into closer contact with humanity and with it the loss of terrestrial habitats and the creatures which inhabit them. The issue of deforestation has become more complex as mine workers chop down trees for firewood to cook and companies clear forested areas for transport infrastructure (Hund et al., 2013). In the eastern DRC miners are also threatening the very existence of species considered to be critically endangered such as the eastern chimpanzee and the Grauer’s gorilla. Over the last 20 years there has been over a 77% decline in the number of Grauer’s gorillas due to hunting, which the presence of mining sites continues to fuel. Recent analysis has also shown that “most miners… hunt wildlife out of necessity, and many would stop hunting if they had a secure income, if domestic sources of meat were made available, and if hunting laws were strongly enforced” (Wildlife Conservation Society, 2017). In effect, miners are forced to rely on bushmeat and hunting to subsidise their meagre wages which fail to provide sufficient funds to keep families afloat. Meanwhile, the small-scale artisanal mines that often lack even basic regulations are starting to appear in greater numbers across forested areas and with devastating consequences to the already fragile ecosystems of the Congo. With so many complex issues at hand, the solutions will be no less difficult to implement and keep stable in a nation which already suffers from wide spread corruption, post-war trauma and high levels of poverty. However, some companies and the DRC itself are making the effort to gradually become more accountable for their behaviour and meet the SDGs already set out while looking to eventually set out new commitments to match the soaring production needs.

ESGs & Electric Vehicle Batteries

Carbon emissions from the transport sector have gone beyond critical levels making up one-fifth of global CO2 emissions, of that 21%, cars and lorries, make up three quarters (15%) of those emissions (Ritchie, 2020). After a decade of rapid growth electric vehicles are no longer the sole preserve of unconventional city dwellers but are finding their place on roads across the globe. In 2020 electric car stocks hit the 10 million mark, a 43% increase on 2019 (iea.org, 2021). China, Europe and the US are leading the race in new electric vehicle registrations by offering a range of benefits to new consumers. From new electric vehicle charging ports popping up in supermarket parking lots to several governments providing extended fiscal incentives such as paying zero road tax there have never been more incentives to go electric. For the majority of consumers, the green label attached to an electric vehicle is of great importance, meanwhile, the considerations over which materials were used in the production of the car are often of lesser significance. The minerals such as cobalt, nickel and lithium which have been mined thousands of miles away are rarely if ever discussed in advertising and unlike buying food from a supermarket which lists the ingredients and their origins, electric vehicle manufacturers often avoid such measures by feeding consumers with ambiguous greenwashing and offering up little information regarding how they source the components for their vehicles.

The core selling point of an electric car is its battery which may come in a range of shapes and sizes but will most likely be a lithium-ion battery or in some cases a nickel-metal hybride battery. Though there are various types of lithium-ion batteries one would need to dig deep to discover exactly which kind as whilst most electronics manufacturers will openly state which batteries they have utilised, those products such as electric vehicle batteries, which often contain significantly more cobalt, will simply state ‘lithium-ion’ in something of a clever ruse allowing the consumer and the manufacturer to fool themselves into thinking they have made the more sustainable choice. Meanwhile, these batteries contain and contribute to a host of social and environmental problems which are wantonly ignored in the belief that their role in the reduction of carbon emissions is so crucial that any other issues they contribute to can be dealt with at a later date. Unfortunately, this is not the case as numerous elements of lithium-ion electric car batteries are mined and processed across Asia and Africa leaving behind them a trail of pollution, biodiversity loss and various other SDG impacts. The DRC is not a unique case as it is one among many nations which supplies the invaluable components for electric vehicle batteries. Though not all nations may present with the same difficulties as the Congo all play a part in our greener future and for this reason, we must take a look at the Philippines and Mongolia who are two of the largest mineral suppliers that are facing similar struggles to the Congo and have found or are finding solutions to some of their shared challenges.

The Philippines is the world’s second largest nickel producer and is vying for top spot in a market that is rapidly becoming one of the most competitive in the world (S& P Global, 2021). As demand has increased for those minerals required to produce batteries for the expanding electric vehicle business, nickel mines in the Philippines are struggling to meet demand due to a lack of facilities and restrictive policies. With around 70% of all nickel mined in the country exported as raw ore to be refined and processed into cathodes in nations such as Japan followed by another long journey to be placed in Tesla cars in factories across America and beyond (Ilagan et al., 2021) the carbon emissions linked to nickel are far higher than they should be. The pledges made by superpowers to drastically reduce emissions has exacerbated this as their demands for more minerals to aid in the adoption of renewable energies are forcing nations such as the Philippines to keep digging. A change in economic circumstances due to Covid-19 has also forced the Philippines government to adopt more lenient policies towards mining with President Rodrigo Duterte lifting a nine year moratorium on new mining deals in a hope to boost revenue and create jobs. Whilst the economic benefits of mining cannot be denied neither can the impacts it will have on the ecology of the Philippines even when people such as “Tesla CEO Elon Musk makes headlines promising a “giant contract” to any mining company that can supply him nickel mined in an “efficiently and environmentally sensitive way” (Ilagan et al., 2021) there are still many wary stakeholders who question this supposed pledge to protect the environment. Be that as it may, without a clear definition on ‘clean’ minerals the hopes of mining being a fuel which will drive the green economy will remain a pipedream as being ‘green’ must start right from the source. Unsustainable mining practices can already be observed in places such as the Rio Tuba mine which has doubled in size between 1987 and 2020, swallowing up an area of rainforest home to one of the most biodiverse collections of flora and fauna in the world containing 105 threatened species. Due to mining activities, there are already adverse consequences to the food production capacity of indigenous and migrant farmers, the risk of landslides has reached an unprecedented level, and potential eco-tourism has been jeopardised. Most troubling of all is the results of an environmental field study carried out by Friends of the Earth Japan who found unsafe levels of hexavalant-chromium, a cancer causing chemical, in the drinking water. A connected 2009 survey of “133 households found that 85 percent reported experiencing an uptick in coughs and other respiratory issues, as well as skin lesions” (Ilagan et al., 2021). Nevertheless, in Bataraza, a town located close to the Rio Tuba mine several social benefits are being felt by the inhabitants. Having previously been categorised as a fourth-class municipality playing host to some of the poorest members of society today it is considered to be a first-class municipality having seen major upgrades in water systems paid for by Nickel Asia, one of the mining companies operating in the area, as well as newly upgraded and refurbished high schools, supermarkets and municipal buildings. One cannot help but wonder if this is representative of Nickel Asia spokesman Baylon’s views on mining in which he states that “I think human development has been a series of trade-offs over the years,” he added. “Part of what we’re suffering through today is paying off the coal factories, which made the industrial revolution possible” (Ilagan et al., 2021). The behaviour of such mining operations appears to be that of luring local communities into a false sense of security by investing in the social needs of the society, all the while continuing to disregard the environment and allowing pollution and deforestation to go on unchecked in the hope that while people enjoy their shiny new supermarkets they will forget about the real price they are paying for a comfortable, high class lifestyle.

A not too dissimilar story can be told about the presence of mining companies in Mongolia. In a nation which few western consumers could point out on a map, Mongolia’s presence on the international stage is arguably going to be one of the most significant in the years to come as the transition to renewables becomes a priority. Mongolia has long relied on its extractive industries with mining’s share of the economy doubling in a decade and now accounting for 10-30% of its GDP and 89% of annual exports (Woods, 2016). With a mining lobby to rival the likes of those in the US, the country offers generous tax breaks and has become increasingly friendly toward foreign enterprises looking to invest in this large, mineral rich, land locked nation. In what has been described as an “environmental sacrifice zone” global demands for lithium are gradually being met by the 203,000 tonnes of reserves which can be found in south eastern Mongolia (Khaikin, 2020) rivalling the two largest producers Australia and Chile in its output, accessibility and price (Levick, 2021). Not unlike the DRC these huge reserves are already being fought over by international companies and governments in a type of capitalist colonialism Mongolia has never experienced before. With Canadian, American, German, Korean and Chinese investors all competing for mining and exploration licenses (Khaikin, 2020) the Mongolian government holds all the cards and how they play them will be of great interest to investors and environmentalists alike. Mongolia holds a position few other mineral rich developing nations do, as its geographic proximity to some of its major consumers such as China, India, South Korea and Taiwan not only reduces shipping expenses, but also reduces its carbon footprint. It is also a nation which has remained relatively neutral meaning that it has good relations with almost every nation on the planet (Levick, 2021) whilst its relative governmental stability ensures that sustainable measures can be put into place with relatively more ease than would be possible in somewhere such as the DRC. Mongolia’s ability to disrupt the lithium supply chain will however come at a cost for the already fragile environmental balance. ‘Minegolia” has now earmarked one fifth of its land for mining with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicting that Oyu Tolgoi, one of the largest mines in the world, will account for one third of Mongolia’s GDP. It is evident that the financial benefits of mining are considered to be more important than protecting the Gobi Desert with its vast number of endangered plants and animals. Mining companies operating in the region have been claiming to use separate, deep-underground saline water called ‘fossil water’ in reality they have been exploiting the precious groundwater reserves to avoid the drilling and large investment required to use fossil water. By polluting and draining water reserves that are shared with animals and people the Southern Gobi region will only have sufficient groundwater for another decade (Woods, 2016) and will see an entire ecosystem crash in the blink of an eye. Mongolia does still have a chance to turn things around by diversifying its economy, taking on new initiatives such as eco-tourism, engaging nomads who’s understanding of land management is invaluable and investing in renewables such as wind energy by expanding the already developed wind farms, thereby benefitting Eurasia through the creation of a green energy grid. “With so many investment opportunities and natural resources available to it, the question is what will Mongolia choose to exploit, and what will it protect” (Woods, 2016).

Closing Remarks

The mining of Cobalt and other precious minerals used to create the lithium-ion batteries fitted to those electric vehicles mushrooming across the world are coming at more than simply a monetary cost. Those developing nations with vast deposits of valuable resources are facing a plethora of ESG related difficulties. Biodiversity loss, desertification, pollution and the reduction of clean fresh water reserves are just a few of the challenges faced by those nations and companies who carry out mining. Possible solutions to these issues such as restricting the removal of vegetation until the time an area must be worked on (NetRegs, 2022), recycling water to decrease usage and implementing a constant water management system (MiningSafety, 2022), protecting areas of high conservation value and replanting/rewilding after a site is no longer in use will go some way towards limiting the environmental impacts of mining. The implementation of such requirements would rely on a concerted effort by governments to enforce such measures and to continually monitor those pledges made by companies to avoid any possibility of greenwashing. The social and governmental aspects of mining varies region to region as in some areas such as the Philippines mining companies have been mindful of their behaviour and have invested in local communities to improve access to education and provide jobs, by comparison, in the DRC there is a long way to go in ensuring miners are paid fairly and have their basic needs such as housing, food, water, energy and education met. Regulations regarding health and safety, for international companies operating in the Congo, are vital and must be exercised at every level from government to mine workers. After all, you cannot have governments setting out laws without monitoring the behaviour on site. For the most part miners know that they need some degree of western style health and safety rules and regulations in order to avoid the very real threat to life which can occur whilst working in every type of mine. However, there has to be a recognition that this is not necessarily possible in every country as corruption remains prevalent and often hampers efforts made to improve the lives of miners. It is not only the mining companies and governments who are responsible for their actions, as consumers the demands we place dictate the behaviour of the marketplace. Demands for certified minerals in our electric vehicle batteries, which prove that they are not the by product of environmental destruction or child labour could significantly shift the conduct of exploitative businesses. This would require transparency and a willingness to work with international organisations who possess no vested interests in the mines to safeguard against greenwashing and ambiguity. There is no doubt that the renewable energy shift will damage our natural world, as it is already doing so. The challenge here is to find a balance between meeting the needs of the consumer, reducing carbon emissions, and protecting the natural world while also finding solutions to establish a supply chain which does not rely on capitalist colonialism.

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