"Blood Batteries. The human rights and environmental impacts of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo" August 2025

(...) 'Cobalt is an essential component in the manufacture of most lithium-ion (L-ion) rechargeable batteries found in smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles (EVs). The metal has therefore become indispensable to our gadget-driven lifestyle, as well as the “green transition” from fossil fuels toward (supposedly) cleaner energy sources. In 2024, 76% of the world’s supply of cobalt was mined in the southeastern provinces of the DRC: Haut-Katanga and Lualaba. The capital of Lualaba province, Kolwezi, has become ground zero for the devastating impacts the cobalt scramble is having on the people and environment of the DRC.

The violent conditions in which cobalt is mined in the DRC have received considerable attention in recent years, yet consumer-facing technology companies and EV manufacturers continue to promote their cobalt supply chains from the DRC as fully audited and compliant with international human rights norms and environmental sustainability practices. Foreign mining companies extracting cobalt from the Congo’s mines typically promulgate similar talking points.

The Congolese voices from the ground, however, tell a very different story.

This report aims to add to the growing body of research on cobalt mining in the DRC with new data on the human rights and environmental impacts of both industrial and artisanal mining operations. I hope that this new data will lead to more effective efforts to address the disheartening conditions uncovered during this project. Durable change, however, can only be achieved when the technology and EV giants perched atop the cobalt supply chain accept genuine responsibility for the people in the Congo who eke out a base existence digging for their cobalt in highly hazardous conditions.' (...)