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Amnesty has established a ranking of car manufacturers concerning their respect of human rights and specifically with regards to the extraction of raw materials for the batteries of their electric models.
13 car manufacturers and groups have been scrutinized by the Amnesty NGO for compliance with international standards of vigilance in human rights for the appropriation of raw materials for their batteries. The aim was to check their entire supply chain for metals such as cobalt, lithium, copper and nickel. The problems are potentially numerous: forced expropriations or evictions, dangerous working conditions, non-respect of human rights, water or air pollution around operating sites, etc.
A few examples
Amnesty has already denounced actions that disrespect human rights during the logistics of supplying batteries, particularly for extraction. For example, in 2023, the NGO highlighted forced evictions, threats and intimidation against local populations in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) to exploit cobalt and copper mines. In 2021, Amnesty noted cases of human rights violations for nickel mining in the Philippines. However, the situation has improved since the first report in 2017.
The ranking
Taking into account various criteria, Amnesty’s “Recharge for rights” study didn’t place any manufacturer in the green “reasonable vigilance” category for its supply and logistics circuits. In the yellow in “reasonable vigilance”, with 51/90, Mercedes-Benz is the brand that most ensures compliance with required standards. Mercedes-Benz is followed by Tesla with 49/90. Stellantis (42/90), BMW, Volkswagen and Ford (41/90) are also in the yellow. In the orange, in “minimum vigilance”, we find General Motors (32/90) and Renault (27/90). The bad students, in the red for “lack of vigilance”, always according to Amnesty, are Nissan, Geely [Volvo] (22/90), Hyundai [and Kia] (21/90), Mitsubishi (13/90) and BYD (11/90).
