Converging Struggles: Activists Unite for Climate, Labor, and Indigenous Rights in Auto Supply Chains
The global production of electric vehicles is set to boom, with sales steadily increasing worldwide. However, this shift towards EVs raises concerns about the carbon-intensive production processes, the rights of Indigenous communities affected by mineral extraction, and the labor rights of workers in the industry. Lead the Charge is a global coalition of civil society organizations which came together to address these concerns and pressure automakers to account for climate and environmental justice, as well as human rights. To do so, they released a scorecard that rates 18 automakers on a range of metrics tied to “commitments, progress, and concrete action” toward fossil-free and environmentally sustainable supply chains and in upholding Indigenous and workers’ rights across supply chains. According to it, the automaker Toyota was allegedly found to have one of the lowest scores.
We invited Toyota to comment on these allegations. The company did not respond.