Amnesty slams EV firms over rights measures in battery production

PARIS: Major electric car makers are failing to show that they are protecting workers and communities from exploitation and environmental harm in producing metals for their batteries, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

The global human rights organisation rated 13 leading car makers on how transparent they were in showing whether their supply chains for metals such as cobalt and nickel met international rights standards.

"The huge rise in demand for the metals needed to make electric vehicle batteries is putting immense pressures on mining-affected communities," said Amnesty's Secretary General Agnes Callamard.

"The human rights abuses tied to the extraction of energy transition minerals are alarming and pervasive and the industry's response is sorely lacking."

It called on car makers to tackle risks in their supply chains such as forced evictions, environmental pollution, disrupted access to water and abuse of Indigenous peoples' rights.

It said the sector had made progress since its first report on the issue in 2017 but much remained to be done.

German car maker Mercedes-Benz scored highest in the ratings, followed by US electric car specialist tesla.

Stellantis, Volkswagen, BMW and Ford were judged to be "moderately" in line with international norms.

Renault and General Motors were in the middle of the pack, with a "minimal" alignment.

Chinese firm BYD along with Mitsubishi Motors and Hyundai scored lowest, with Geely Auto and Nissan just above them.

"The commitments these companies report on are often vague and provide little evidence of meaningful action," said Callamard.

In reaction to the report, Nissan said that "we appreciate the opportunity to receive your evaluation and will keep working on improvement."

Geely responded that "the key findings are valuable to us and we will continue to enhance our supply chain management and disclosure transparency".

BYD, Mitsubishi Motors and Hyundai did not respond to requests for comment.

In September 2023, Amnesty accused multinational companies of evicting and intimidating residents near cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It also documented human rights violations targeting Indigenous people linked to nickel extraction in the Philippines.

Callamard called on governments to strengthen regulation of companies' human rights efforts.