Respuesta de la empresa
Response by Mercedes-Benz
- Thank you for giving us the opportunity to comment. Mercedes-Benz takes such reports input very seriously.
- Mercedes-Benz seeks to ensure that its products contain only materials that have been mined and produced without violating human rights and environmental standards.
- As a global company, we aspire to uphold the highest standards of respect for human rights and the environment, regardless of where we operate.
- Therefore, we expect compliance with our Responsible Sourcing Standards, which include good working conditions as well as free choice of employment and environmental protection. This applies to suppliers, their employees, and their subcontractors. Mercedes-Benz calls on its direct suppliers to apply the standards in their upstream value chains and to monitor their compliance.
- We take all reports about potential violations of these requirements very seriously and check them. Compliance with our sustainability standards is systematically monitored.
- At Mercedes-Benz AG, we use a variety of measures and concepts for the sustainable management of our supply chain. That includes the screening of our suppliers, risk-based due diligence analyses, and sustainability training courses for suppliers. Through these measures we support compliance with social standards and environmental requirements and achieve greater transparency in the supply chain.
- However, please understand we cannot comment in detail about ongoing legal proceedings of our suppliers.
- Our partner Hydro has made clear that it takes the reports about the Alunorte situation very seriously. The company has informed Mercedes-Benz transparently about how it is addressing potential shortcomings. Detailed information can be found on the official company pages of Hydro.
- Auditing Mines is another important tool for carrying out due diligence in raw material supply chains and to address environmental and human rights risks that depend on the management of the mine on site.
- In the context of aluminum, bauxite is one of the 24 raw materials that Mercedes-Benz has classified as critical, for which we carry out a raw material assessment based on the logic and methodology of the UN Guiding Principles. For aluminum, we have already completed such an assessment. The aim is to proactively identify and mitigate risks in our raw material supply chains. Specific information on the methodology aligned with the UNGP can be found on our website. Based on our raw material assessment, we address the specific risks in our supply chain and follow them up. This includes regular dialogues with our suppliers and on-site assessments, also in Brazil.
- Mercedes-Benz and Hydro have agreed to work together in partnership to comply with and improve sourcing standards as instruments of human rights due diligence.
- In December 2022 Mercedes-Benz signed an agreement with Hydro to create a sustainable and decarbonized aluminium supply chain.
- Mercedes-Benz entered this partnership with Hydro because the company was able to convincingly demonstrate to us that the right governance structures are in place to reshape the supply chain in a sustainable way and to deal with potential legacy issues in a responsible manner.
