"European Union: Rules for Batteries Should Cover Bauxite, Copper, Iron", 28 April 2022

The European Union’s proposed batteries regulation should require importers and manufacturers to source the bauxite, copper, and iron used in batteries responsibly, a coalition of 16 organizations said today. The coalition includes Amnesty International, Earthworks, Finnwatch, Germanwatch, Human Rights Watch, Inclusive Development International, INKOTA, PowerShift, RAID, SOMO, and Transport & Environment, as well as human rights and environmental activists from producer countries.

The batteries regulation would create mandatory requirements for all batteries – portable, automotive, electric vehicle, and industrial – placed on the EU market, including rules requiring battery importers and manufacturers to identify and address actual and potential human rights and environmental abuses in the supply of key raw materials. The European Parliament has proposed a list of raw materials that includes bauxite, copper, and iron, as well as cobalt, graphite, lithium, and nickel. National governments in the European Council want to exclude bauxite, copper, and iron from the list. The Council, Parliament, and Commission began negotiations on the final draft regulation on April 20, 2022...

Bauxite is the ore needed to make aluminum, a key material for electric car batteries...

Copper is used in battery anodes and electric wiring...

Although the aluminum, copper, and steel industries promote their sustainability and green credentials, all three materials have been linked to destructive human rights and environmental impacts. The mining of bauxite is the most significant contributor to deforestation within mining leases in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest and has led to widespread loss and destruction of agricultural land and water resources in Guinea, a West African country with the world’s largest deposits...

Copper mining and processing also comes with significant human rights and environmental risks. In Zambia, copper mining has reportedly resulted in large-scale land loss for farmers, including through forced evictions, as well as water and air pollution. Copper and cobalt are also often mined together, resulting in similar human rights impacts...

Iron ore mining and processing also carries significant environmental and social risks. In January 2019, the collapse of a dam in Brumadinho, Brazil, that stored waste from iron ore mining caused a deluge of toxic mud and mining waste to sweep through a nearby town, burying more than 250 people alive...