Benedikt Sobotka made a stand against child labour at cobalt mines

Benedikt Sobotka: We have a responsibility towards children in countries where our organization extracts garbage for that batteries industry.

Hydrocarbons remain the key supply of energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in western world have become increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit skin tightening and www.businessfirstonline.co.uk to the atmosphere and pollute mid-air with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will are 130 million in the end of 2030 and each home and office will probably use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already asserted that they will ban all vehicles taking care of 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 have to 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 sixty-six per cent of cobalt are extracted inside the Democratic Republic with the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a significant amount of employment for people throughout DRC but a large percentage could be tainted by illegal child labour.

In 2017, world leading companies including BASF, Enel and Volkswagen met in the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos to discuss business ethics in minerals extraction for the manufacture of batteries. As a result, the businesses came together to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group as being a founding member, geared towards prohibiting the application of child labour and promoting battery recycling to increase the sustainability with the industry.

The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s dedication to help tackle child labour inside Democratic Republic with the Congo. He hopes that from the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of children in mining in the battery supply chain is going to be addressed.

Eurasian Resources Group supports children inside 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 guide greater than 10,000 students through its educational initiatives in the DRC.

Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds that the global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants across the value chain including children and local communities inside DRC.