This webinar discussed a tool that allows investors to assess human rights risks, policies, and practices of the most important mining companies that supply cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, and zinc to the renewable energy and electric vehicles sectors. 

Extraction of the so-called “transition minerals” is expected to rise dramatically with growing demand for renewable energy technologies. Yet, many of the companies producing these minerals are beset with allegations of human rights abuse. 

This webinar focused on the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s Transition Minerals Tracker, which allows investors to explore the key human rights risks related to mining of these particular minerals, identify whether these companies have human rights policies in place and track hotspots where these companies have had human rights allegations raised against them, and what those allegations were. The tracker has data from 2010 to 2021 and is also used by manufacturing companies. Ørsted, a renewable energy company, also joined the webinar to walk us through how they use this effective tool and include it for supplier selection. 

Speakers: 

Caroline Avan, Natural Resources Researcher, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC)

Joël Frijhoff, Lead Sustainability Advisor and Programme Lead at Ørsted

Veronica Ayzaguer, Director of Extractive Industries Program, EMIA (moderator)