Written by OpenAI
Every time I see someone driving an electric vehicle (EV), I assume they support and encourage child slave labor with their buying dollar.
That may sound harsh—but the truth often is.
The glossy marketing around EVs paints a picture of eco-consciousness, progress, and innovation. But behind the sleek design and silent motors is a supply chain built, in part, on the broken backs of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Cobalt: The Dirty Core of Clean Energy
The batteries that power most EVs rely on cobalt, a mineral primarily mined in the DRC, which supplies over 70% of the world's cobalt. This isn't done in sanitized, regulated, or unionized facilities. It’s often done by hand, by children, in dangerous, illegal artisanal mines.
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The Guardian reports that more than 40,000 children, some as young as 6 years old, work in cobalt mines under horrific conditions:
👉 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/28/the-hidden-human-cost-of-the-electric-car-revolution -
A 2016 Amnesty International report titled “This is What We Die For” documented widespread use of child labor in cobalt mining. Their follow-up investigations in 2021 revealed that not much had changed:
👉 https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/3183/2016/en/
👉 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/03/child-labour-behind-smartphone-and-electric-car-batteries/ -
The New Yorker ran a chilling exposé by Siddharth Kara, author of Cobalt Red, detailing his field research and interviews with Congolese children and families forced into these mines:
👉 https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-shocking-human-cost-of-cobalt-mining
Greenwashing: The Moral Fog
Governments and corporations love to promote EVs as the future of clean energy. But ask yourself: clean for whom?
Children are being buried alive in tunnel collapses. Toxic exposure is deforming their bodies. They’re paid pennies or nothing at all. And we’re supposed to celebrate this as progress?
When you buy an EV, you're not just choosing a vehicle. You're making a moral decision—one that often props up the very exploitation that ESG marketing claims to oppose.
Are There Better Options?
Not all cobalt is mined under slave-like conditions, but tracing the supply chain is notoriously difficult. And while some companies claim to be sourcing "responsibly," watchdogs remain skeptical.
Until full transparency and accountability are standard—not exception—anyone buying an EV is participating in a supply chain that very likely includes modern-day slavery.
Conclusion: Eyes Wide Open
You want to help the environment? Start by protecting the children who live in it.
Until we face the true cost of these “green” technologies, we are not solving anything—we’re just shifting the burden from privileged consumers to the most vulnerable humans on the planet.
Want to Know More?
Start with Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara. Then ask your EV manufacturer for complete supply chain transparency. See how far you get.
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