Human rights risks along the nickel supply chain
As one of the largest export nations, Germany is heavily dependent on raw material imports. Almost 100 percent of the primary metallic raw materials are imported from abroad and further processed by German industry. Germany's demand for raw materials has risen sharply in recent decades and, according to forecasts, will continue to increase in the coming years. Human rights violations in connection with the extraction of raw materials are repeatedly discussed. This applies equally to all raw materials: The raw materials sector is a risk sector.
The raw materials sector is exposed to severe risks of disregarding and violating human rights. The example of the raw material nickel clearly shows that there are human rights violations, but these apparently occur in the German
Corporations that use nickel have not yet arrived in consciousness. The nickel-using corporations do not report transparently on their homepages about their efforts and measures to address human rights risks.
Minimize or even prevent.
But it is not just the individual companies that are to be held accountable here. According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the German government also has a duty to comply with its human rights obligations. To this end, it should oblige companies that extract, trade or, for example, use raw materials for the production of their products to respect human rights. Voluntary arrangements – as evidenced by the non-reporting of German companies in the nickel sector – are not sufficient. Therefore, the editors of the paper, who are also active in the nationwide network AK Rohstoff, call on the Federal Government to:
- Increase recycling rates
- Strengthening the circular economy
- Abandonment of deep-sea mining
- Mandatory due diligence obligations
- Transparent and mandatory documentation of corporate reporting
- Introduction of corporate criminal law
- Supporting the countries of the South in diversifying the economy
- Protecting civil society
- Protecting and strengthening the rights of indigenous peoples
