Concerns raised over mining companies’ role in battery passport scheme

theguardian.com:

Human rights groups have raised concerns that controversial mining companies, including one with a subsidiary under investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, are taking a key role in a new “battery passport” scheme that counts the electric carmaker Tesla among its key supporters.

The mining companies Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) and Glencore are among the founders of ReSource, a proposed joint venture that is working with several other big companies on making the global car battery supply chain more transparent – giving drivers confidence that the precious metals their car batteries have been mined ethically.

But critics have claimed that the new scheme would let the mining companies “mark their own homework” and that schemes to improve battery transparency should be run by an independent body.

The global demand for battery minerals is expected to soar in the coming decades as the world moves rapidly away from petrol and diesel cars to electric power. However, politicians, carmakers and electronics companies have become increasingly concerned about minimising environmental harm and preventing human rights abuses.

All batteries sold in Europe from 2027 must have their own battery passport tracking the sources of the minerals they contain, as well as details on their environmental impact. The rules, set by the EU, were made in response to increasing awareness of abuses and poor conditions, particularly in cobalt supply chains in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Similar details on supply chains are required in the US for cars to qualify for tax breaks.

ReSource was launched in January at the World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of business and political leaders at the Swiss ski resort Davos.

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