Electrification of the European car fleet

The ethical dilemma of metal extraction

The post-pandemic era has been marked, at least partially, by the people’s move toward more sustainable consumption patterns, or allegedly considered as such. The electric car industry is certainly one of the industries that has benefited most from this behavioural shift, according to the data reported within the Global EV Outlook 2022, an annual publication that identifies and discusses the recent developments in electric mobility around the world. Specifically, Europe, in 2021, saw a 65 percent increase over the previous year.

The dark side of the green

The market for electric cars has grown significantly in recent times, aided by a new environmental awareness and the assumption by states of a series of policies that meet the needs of society. Among the latest measures that will continue to fuel this market is the European intention to ban, starting from 2035, the sale of heat-powered cars.

The process of electrifying the car fleet is just one of the procedures in favour of climate change resistance, as can be seen from the ultimate goal of these measures, which is for the transportation industry to become zero-emission by 2050.

However, is replacing fuels with electric batteries sustainable? The public opinion is mostly concerned by the ethical implications of extracting the materials needed to build the batteries themselves. According to Amnesty International: “More than half of the world’s cobalt, which is a key component of lithium-ion batteries, comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the 20 percent of it is extracted manually.”

The failure of the “ethical cobalt”

According to a report published by the same organization, the conditions under which adults and, very often, children are forced to work are atrocious. The descriptions provided designate activities carried out, for long hours, in narrow man-made tunnels with high exposure to the risk of fatal accidents and serious lung diseases.

The last report denouncing working conditions in high-tech mines was published by Amnesty International in March 2021 despite the fact that, as of December 10, 2020, the European Commission had adopted a regulation that was supposed to encourage the placing on the market of “ethical cobalt,” that is, not “contaminated” by human rights violations.

The adherence to such protocols, however, is disapproved by manufacturers, as it can be demonstrated that the use of ethical and sustainable materials would significantly jeopardize the costs involved and could cause a major setback to the market of electric cars, which has taken a long time to launch.

Between need and mirage

The situation the Earth is experiencing can only encourage people to take action, and the consequences of climate change are ever more concrete. For this reason, too, proposals such as replacing, or rather, electrifying the car fleet are seen as possible solutions needed to contain the disruptive climate change that is increasingly making its effects felt.

Therefore, as already well known, there is not much time left to make a decisive positive turn for the fate of our planet, and while waiting for suitable measures, efforts should be made for its containment, at least. However, it should be emphasized that human rights cannot be given up for a false virtuous consumer behaviour while concealing the presence of a tear with a patch far worse than the latter.

Laura Franceschi

Graduated in Science and Technology of Environment and Territory at the University of Milan-Bicocca. Passionate about the environment, society and communication, she decided to join the Atmosphera project in which she sees reflected all the values she believes in.