Batteries and accumulators are a major market of the future and can no longer be imagined without our modern life. For example, in e-mobility. According to the European Commission, 28 million electric cars will be on European roads by 2030. Therefore, an extreme increase in the demand for battery raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel as well as iron, copper and aluminium is expected.
The EU Commission is currently working on the renewal of its battery regulation from 2006. Compliance with human rights and environmental standards in the battery value chain seems to be neglected. Because the EU Commission has so far focused on its own competitiveness and largely ignores the social dimension of battery production. However, in both raw material extraction and battery production, serious human rights violations and devastating environmental degradation occur, which are mainly externalized to the Global South. Our new factsheet shows the impact of the promotion of battery raw materials and the recycling or disposal of old batteries. We call on the EU Commission to anchor mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence obligations along the entire battery value chain in its revision of the Battery Directive.
