Benedikt Sobotka: We have a responsibility towards children in countries where we extracts recycleables for that batteries industry.

Hydrocarbons remain the primary way to obtain energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in civilized world are actually increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit co2 Sobotka Benedikt into the atmosphere and pollute air with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will are as long as 130 million right at the end of 2030 and every home and office will likely use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already declared that they’ll ban all vehicles implementing petrol or diesel fuel in central areas. The way things are going, batteries will replace the environmentally damaging coal and oil as fuel sources.

Minerals for batteries should be extracted and processed with robust safety standards, proper working conditions, norms for responsible extraction and business ethics in mind.

Global social responsibility

Take, for example, cobalt. Over 2 / 3 of cobalt are extracted inside Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a lot of employment for those all around DRC but a large percentage may be tainted by illegal child labour.

In 2017, world leading companies including BASF, Enel and Volkswagen met at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos to debate business ethics in minerals extraction to the output of batteries. As a result, the companies came together to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group being a founding member, geared towards prohibiting using child labour and promoting battery recycling to increase the sustainability in the industry.

The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s resolve for help tackle child labour within the Democratic Republic in the Congo. He hopes that from the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of children in mining within the battery supply chain will probably be addressed.

Eurasian Resources Group supports children within the DRC

Through longstanding partnerships including while using Good Shepherd Sisters and Pact, Eurasian Resources Group targets helping tackle child labour and strengthen child protection norms.

In 2018 and early 2019, ERG continued to compliment over 10,000 students through its educational initiatives inside DRC.

Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds the global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants over the value chain including children and local communities within the DRC.