By: Ibrahim Bah
DOI: 10.57912/27251979
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire world would grind to a halt if cobalt were to stop being produced. Airbags in cars? Cobalt. Petroleum catalysts? Cobalt. The very device you are reading this on. Cobalt, cobalt, and more cobalt. As a natural resource, it is integral to the global supply chain, and in terms of sourcing, the Democratic Republic of the Congo holds the reins. The DRC holds 48% of the world’s reservesand is responsible for 73% of world production. The technology sector has become increasingly reliant on the mineral for the construction of lithium-ion batteries, found in electric cars and most rechargeable devices. Indeed, cobalt is key to leading the charge in environmental sustainability because of its necessity for renewable energy technology, and is also key to the defense consideration of modern militaries, given their reliance on modern technology. Yet, cobalt’s significance in driving the charge toward environmental sustainability can be juxtaposed with the staggering human rights abuses that are inextricably tied to its harvesting. To respond to the issues in the cobalt supply chain, the international community must create regulations and economic incentives while dismantling the systems that reinforce these human rights abuses.
Most professional mines across the world are industrial, but many of the cobalt mines in the DRC are artisanal. Industrial mines rely on heavy machinery, are run by large mining companies, and are regulated and must adhere to labor and human rights laws. Artisanal mines are run informally, miners are often paid under the table, and mining is often done without proper tools, meaning that safety issues are rampant. For example, raw cobalt is a toxic substance, but miners in the Congo (including young children) are breathing it in and touching it with their bare hands daily. Likewise, the construction of these mines is unsupervised, resulting in poorly constructed mines, and causing these mines to collapse, leading to devastating and often undocumented or underreported casualties. Furthermore, communities have been forcibly displaced from their homes in areas with suspected mineral strains. Amnesty International reports that local police, on behalf of the DRC’s state mining company or other conglomerates, force people to leave their homes before they are bulldozed, often with little warning or compensation. This destroys the socioeconomic potential of people in a developing country while breaking down the intangible community connections that are so intrinsically valuable.
The armed conflict in the DRC intensifies these human rights abuses. Rebel insurgency groups like the M23 movement (with informal support from neighboring Rwanda) often take over artisanal mines, stealing profits, coercing children to work in dangerous conditions, and creating conditions akin to modern-day slavery. The Congolese government’s corruption has only reinforced existing issues: its state mining company turns a blind eye to these human rights abuses, because being able to produce cobalt with such high margins is incredibly beneficial for the country’s oligarchs. Despite being a signatory to international agreements around the ethical harvest of minerals like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the DRC avoids accountability due to regional instability and an illiberal government. The breakdown of local communities and the reinforcement of cash flows for oligarchs and regional insurgents only results in a less stable central Africa with less economic potential for its citizens.
Cobalt’s necessity to the world also opens the door to a larger conversation on how the flow of resources and products can have massive effects on the economy and security of a country. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Suez Canal blockage have both illustrated the importance of safe and efficient supply chains in the globalized world. The vitality of cobalt to the global system means that this regional instability can affect the harvesting of a resource that is essential to global development. The U.S. has a vested interest in getting involved, since cobalt is essential for a state seeking to expand its presence in the highly centralized semiconductor market and modernize its military with new technological advances. More importantly, as a country that aims to stand as a paragon for global values (and as one that has a complicated postcolonial history with the DRC), the U.S. has a responsibility to end its complicity with these human rights issues and find a way to address them.
So, what can be done? Some may suggest sanctions, and in fact, the United States has had sanctions placed on the DRC since 2006. Yet, sanctions are often ineffective in these situations, since the sanctioned country can simply shift to private companies or countries like China or Russia who are willing to disregard human rights standards for profit or military expansion. Moreover, these sanctions would likely fall on the backs of the Congolese citizens, already economically battered by years of conflict and pre-existing sanctions. Instead, the United States and the African Union could work to establish monetary incentives for the Congolese government or involved companies for following new or pre-existing human rights and extraction standards like the EITI. The U.S. could also offer to provide economic investment in the DRC if these human rights standards are met, thus also improving the economy and removing the need for people to work in these dangerous mines. As a part of these subsidies or as a separate law by the Congolese government, it could be mandated that only industrial mines are allowed to legally harvest cobalt (with accompanying enforcement). Measures to formalize industry ownership and ensure that it lies with the people have been taken in neighboring countries like Rwanda. Alongside these measures, international commissions around cobalt and other similar minerals (maybe linked to global climate initiatives the Paris Agreement, given cobalt’s importance to sustainability technology) could be established to better regulate the harvesting and distribution of cobalt internationally. But, if something is not done, then people will continue to suffer, the unheard laborers continuing to build the luxuries of the modern world.
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