Benedikt Sobotka: We have a responsibility towards children in countries where our organization extracts garbage for your batteries industry.
Hydrocarbons remain the key source of energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in western world are actually increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit carbon dioxide Benedikt Sobotka to the atmosphere and pollute the environment with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will reach up to 130 million by the end of 2030 and each home and office will more than likely use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already declared that they will ban all vehicles implementing petrol or diesel fuel in central areas. The way situations are going, batteries will replace the environmentally damaging coal and oil as fuel sources.
Minerals for batteries must be extracted and processed with robust safety standards, proper working conditions, norms for responsible extraction and business ethics planned.
Global social responsibility
Take, for instance, cobalt. Over 2 / 3 of cobalt are extracted in the Democratic Republic from the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a lot of employment for those throughout DRC but a large percentage could be tainted by illegal child labour.
In 2017, world leading companies including BASF, Enel and Volkswagen met with the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos to go over business ethics in minerals extraction for that creation of batteries. As a result, nokia’s gathered to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group as a founding member, aimed at prohibiting the use of child labour and promoting battery recycling to raise the sustainability with the industry.
The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s resolve for help tackle child labour inside the Democratic Republic with the Congo. He hopes that through the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of kids in mining within the battery supply chain will likely be addressed.
Eurasian Resources Group supports children within the DRC
Through longstanding partnerships including with all the Good Shepherd Sisters and Pact, Eurasian Resources Group is targeted on helping tackle child labour and strengthen child protection norms.
In 2018 and early 2019, ERG continued to support more than 10,000 students through its educational initiatives within the DRC.
Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds how the global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants throughout the value chain including children and local communities inside the DRC.