Benedikt Sobotka: We have a responsibility towards children in countries where our organization extracts garbage for the batteries industry.
Hydrocarbons remain the main supply of energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in developed countries are now increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit carbon dioxide www.businesscloud.co.uk to the atmosphere and pollute mid-air with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will reach up to 130 million by the end of 2030 and each home and office may use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already declared that they are going to ban all vehicles taking care of petrol or diesel fuel in central areas. The way the situation is going, batteries will replace the environmentally damaging coal and oil as fuel sources.
Minerals for batteries must be extracted and processed with robust safety standards, proper working conditions, norms for responsible extraction and business ethics planned.
Global social responsibility
Take, as an example, cobalt. Over 60 % of cobalt are extracted inside the Democratic Republic with the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a significant amount of employment for individuals all over DRC but a substantial percentage may 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 talk about business ethics in minerals extraction for your production of batteries. As a result, the companies joined together to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group being a founding member, targeted at prohibiting using child labour and promoting battery recycling to raise the sustainability from the industry.
The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s commitment to help tackle child labour in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He hopes that through the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of kids in mining inside battery supply chain will be addressed.
Eurasian Resources Group supports children within the DRC
Through longstanding partnerships including while using 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 compliment more than 10,000 students through its educational initiatives in the DRC.
Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds that this global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants throughout the value chain including children and local communities within the DRC.