Trade and Critical Minerals:

The Deadly Cost of Cobalt Mining in the Congo

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October 2024

Photo: The International Institute for Environment and Development

This report was authored by Iza Camarillo and Sarah Stevens from Public Citizen in collaboration with Maurice Carney, a co-founder and Executive Director of the Friends of the Congo. Special thanks to Isabella Busto, Palak Srivastava, and Matthew McCarty for their research contributions.

The climate crisis is here: record-breaking temperatures, endless smoke billowing from wildfires, longer periods of drought in affected regions, and rising sea levels have made it impossible to ignore.¹ The transportation sector, which relies heavily on fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel, is a major contributor to this crisis. The combustion of these fuels releases harmful carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, leading to air, water, and soil pollution while accelerating global warming.²

Therefore, a clean energy transition in the transportation sector is essential to reducing reliance on fossil fuels and minimizing the overconsumption of natural resources,³ with electric vehicles (EVs) playing a pivotal role in this transformation.⁴

As the clean energy transition accelerates, the demand for critical minerals, especially cobalt, nickel, and lithium — vital for batteries that power EVs — has surged, raising urgent questions about how these minerals are extracted, who benefits, and who may be harmed.

The DRC's Role in the Mineral Mining Industry

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the world’s richest country in terms of resources, holding vast reserves of cobalt, copper, and lithium,⁵ which the State Department estimates at $24 trillion in mineral wealth.⁶ It accounts for approximately 50% of the world’s known cobalt reserves⁷ and supplies around 70% of the global cobalt demand, cementing its central role in the EV supply chain.⁸

Despite its vast resources, the DRC is among the five poorest nations in the world with one in six people living in extreme poverty.⁹ It remains burdened by the legacies of colonial exploitation, as multinational corporations continue to disproportionately reap the benefits of its natural wealth while local populations contend with systemic socio-economic inequalities.¹⁰ Historically, resource extraction during the colonial era was carried out with little regard for local communities or environmental sustainability, enriching foreign powers while impoverishing local populations.¹¹

Today, a substantial portion of critical minerals is located in environmentally sensitive regions and lands inhabited by Indigenous peoples.¹² This raises concerns, as the power imbalances among governments, foreign corporations, and frontline communities can result in the approval of mining projects that would otherwise be deemed unacceptable if environmental and social impacts were adequately considered. The urgency of the clean energy transition will likely intensify existing pressure on governments to expedite licensing processes and permit mining in vulnerable and high-risk areas at the expense of their vulnerable populations.¹³

The DRC’s struggle to control and benefit from its mineral wealth underscores the broader challenges African nations face in moving up the value chain as multinational corporations in wealthy countries continue to reap the bulk of the financial rewards.¹⁴ This legacy amplifies ongoing struggles for resource sovereignty and emphasizes the need for mining practices that meaningfully support economic and social development.¹⁵

The DRC's Role in the Mineral Mining Industry

Journey of Cobalt

The journey of cobalt from the DRC’s mines to the batteries powering EVs is fraught with peril and exploitation.

Some cobalt is extracted by so-called “artisanal” miners — a misleading term for small-scale, informal miners who often work in hazardous and unregulated conditions.

These miners, including children, dig deep into the earth with rudimentary tools, exposing themselves to toxic chemicals and life-threatening conditions while earning meager wages.¹⁶

Once extracted, cobalt travels through a convoluted supply chain involving multiple intermediaries, often obscuring its origins and shielding corporations from accountability.¹⁷

The process is marked by labor abuses, environmental destruction, and the displacement of local populations, further illustrating how the DRC’s wealth is extracted at great human cost, with little benefit to local communities.

The vast majority of the cobalt — a reported 170,000 metric tons in 2023 alone — is then exported to other countries for processing and manufacturing of electric vehicles, smartphones, and more.¹⁸

Harmful Corporate Practices in Cobalt Global Supply Chains

Corporations in the EV supply chain have often been linked to unethical practices resulting in labor rights violations, environmental degradation, adverse health impacts, and human rights violations.

Photo: Junior Kannah, AFP via Getty Images

Labor Rights Violations

Child labor is well documented in the cobalt supply chain, with children as young as seven working in mines under dangerous conditions, depriving them of education and a healthy childhood.¹⁹

Children who work in these mining sites due to extreme poverty are paid as little as $2 a day for labor-intensive and dangerous work. In 2023, a new governmental monitoring system inspected 10 artisanal cobalt mining sites and registered 5,346 children to be assessed for services.

The U.S. Department of Labor still categorizes the DRC as having made “minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.”²⁰

Many workers are killed in tunnel collapses, are paralyzed, or endure life-changing injuries.²¹

Pit wall collapses are common when digging in larger open-air pits, with the result of all miners being buried alive; of the 10,000 to 15,000 tunnels dug by artisanal miners, none have supports, ventilation shafts, or other safety measures.²²

Miners are often paid insufficient wages that do not reflect the value of the cobalt they extract.²³ This economic exploitation perpetuates poverty and limits opportunities for improvement.²⁴

Forced labor is notably rampant in cobalt extraction, with workers often coerced into mining under threat of violence or economic deprivation.²⁵

The DRC’s Trade Union Confederation estimates that 97% of all workers are employed within the “informal economy,” where they often face hazardous or exploitative working conditions, whether in mining or other sectors like agriculture. In 2023, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), nearly two million people were employed in artisanal mines, where the majority of mining injuries and fatalities occur.²⁶

Union busting is widespread in the DRC, according to the State Department’s 2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices. “Government and employers did not respect the right of freedom of association and collective bargaining, and penalties were rarely applied against violators,” the report notes, “Antiunion discrimination was widespread, particularly in foreign-owned companies.”

Testimonial

At 12 years old, Raphael wanted more than anything to learn and go to school. He was described as a “bright and cheerful child.” However, his family could not sustain the monthly fees required to support his education. So Raphael, like many other children living in poverty in the DRC, had no choice but to work as a digger for an industrial cobalt mine near Kolwezi.

In April 2018, at just 15 years old, Raphael was deep underground when the tunnel above him collapsed. Instead of attending school, he tragically died alongside 30 other diggers. Recollecting his story, Raphael’s aunt lamented, “our children are dying like dogs.”²⁷

Raphael’s family, along with 13 other families, initiated a legal case against Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Google, and Tesla for what they claim is the companies’ complicity in the injuries and deaths of their children.²⁸ His story is one of many highlighting the violent circumstances of child labor in the DRC.

Environmental Degradation

Cobalt mining causes deforestation, soil erosion, and contamination of water sources, threatening local ecosystems and human communities.²⁹

Ore processed during cobalt extraction exposes sulfide minerals to atmospheric oxygen, creating sulfuric acid. This acid mine drainage and toxic metals harm surface and groundwater resources.³⁰

Similarly, without proper disposal of the waste materials from cobalt extractions, tailings are found in streambeds, poisoning the DRC’s water supplies with toxic metals.

Breaches in tailings’ dams and spills of sulfuric acid have led to at least 14 significant toxic environmental pollution incidents for which the clean-ups were also inadequate.³¹

At least 22 studies have illustrated that the area’s rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands are severely polluted; acidified industrial pollution has made such bodies of water unable to host fish and created toxic water.³²

Fish in cobalt regions in DRC are contaminated with prominent levels of cobalt, which can also be spread through humans through the consumption of fish or drinking of the lake’s water.³³

High cobalt concentrations in the soil result in crop and worm death, which are necessary for soil fertility to grow crops.³⁴

Testimonial

In April 2017, a pipeline running from MUMI — an open-pit copper and cobalt mine owned by Glencore — burst. As a result, acid ran into the Luakusha River and the Kando Lake, two vital waterways for the local community’s survival. Local farmers’ crops were destroyed. Plants and aquatic species like toads and fish were wiped out.³⁵

In Kapaso, an area reliant on the Kando Lake, a local resident named Jeanne told researchers, “I had to stop fishing… after the rupture of the Mutanda pipeline and the dumping of acidified waste in the lake. That day, a woman got into the water and her body burned. Even the fishermen who were present suffered from burns. Following this event, the fish became smaller, and their taste was different. Some fish had sores. Before, the fish had fat, but now they are all dry.”³⁶

Marla, a community member in Kapaso, stated, “After our day of work, on the way back home, we saw a lot of dead fish along the river… we have noticed that since that day the river has completely changed.”³⁷

In communities that rely on local waterways for sustenance, water contamination can upend local food security and cause ecological devastation for local plants and wildlife species.

Health Concerns

Cobalt exposure is linked to severe health issues, including heavy metal lung disease and congenital disabilities.³⁸

Pregnant women in the DRC have some of the highest concentrations of cobalt in their bloodstream, which can lead to various health problems, including cancer and reproductive issues.³⁹ This is a particular risk for unborn children when the father’s occupation is mining.⁴⁰

Particles emitted during cobalt mining are also cancer-causing and radioactive and have been linked to a variety of other health problems, from vision issues, thyroid issues, and heart problems.⁴¹

Exposure to high concentrations of cobalt can also cause pneumonia and asthma.⁴²

Cobalt can also contaminate land by coming into contact with water and soil; once it enters, it cannot be destroyed.⁴³ The contamination of water can lead to a host of health issues, ranging from skin disorders to organ failure.⁴⁴

Due to the contamination from mining, local residents do not have enough clean water to drink or for personal hygiene and are forced to use contaminated water for everyday needs.⁴⁵

The intense water pollution has also had effects on the gynecological and reproductive health of women, resulting in more frequent miscarriages, birth defects, urogenital infections, and more.⁴⁶

Testimonial

In 2017, Lorraine had a child in Golf Musonole near the COMMUS cobalt mine. Like all mothers, she hoped her child would come into this world perfectly healthy.

Due to the toxic pollution of the cobalt mine, Lorraine’s baby was born with a birth defect. She told researchers, “The doctor said that the malformation was related to the pollution of the mines… All my other children are healthy, but there are other women who have given birth to children with birth defects and all of them have died, except mine.”⁴⁷

Cynthia, who lives in Rianda, noted, “we women, we are more often in contact with water (polluted by the cobalt mines) than men, because we use it to wash ourselves, to wash clothes, to prepare food.”⁴⁸ As a result, women in the DRC suffer disproportionate health consequences from cobalt mines’ toxic pollution.⁴⁹

Human Rights Violations

Indigenous communities are often displaced without consent, their resource-rich land taken over by mining operations, violating their right to own, use, and control their traditional lands, territories, and resources,⁵⁰ and disrupting their traditional ways of life.⁵¹

As mining operations expand, entire communities are destroyed, and the people are forcibly displaced. The compensation offered by corporations is often inadequate and contributes to great declines in people’s standard of living.⁵²

Forced evictions, often violent, are common, with houses burned and people brutally attacked to clear land for mining.⁵³

According to the State Department, artisanal mining is predominantly informal, illicit, and closely linked to armed groups. The DRC government failed to enforce laws and at times was complicit in the cycle of illegal mining, displacement, and violence.⁵⁴

Testimonial

In November 2016, residents of the Mukumbi settlement in Laulaba were confronted with unspeakable levels of violence as Congolese soldiers burned down their settlement to make way for a cobalt mine.

Ernest Miji, the local chief, said that representatives from the mining company and police officers visited the community five times, demanding that residents of Mukumbi move away.

The violent, forced evictions left a two-year-old girl with life-altering scars, and community members who tried to defend the settlement were beaten.⁵⁵

Mukumbi once comprised 400 structures, including a school, a health facility, and a church. After the attack, everything was destroyed. Kanini Maska, a former resident, stated, “we weren’t able to retrieve anything. We had nothing to survive on.”⁵⁶

In 2024, Madame Mwambuyi Shoudelle from Musonoyi — a village impacted by Glencore’s mining activities — spoke to researchers about the sustained human rights violations committed against her community. She recounted a chilling incident in which a woman was shot, declaring, “there is too much gunfire [from the escalating violence'” She added, “We are even afraid to let our children walk in the streets.”⁵⁷

Protecting Foreign Investors at the Expense of Vulnerable Communities

Clearly, significant reform is needed to safeguard workers, local communities, and the environment. However, efforts to address harmful practices in mining could be stymied by the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system embedded in many free trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties (BITs). ISDS grants foreign corporations unprecedented power to sue sovereign governments in private tribunals, circumventing domestic courts, if they perceive that regulatory changes or new laws—even those aimed at protecting labor, the environment, or human rights—could negatively impact their profits.

The U.S.-DRC Bilateral Investment Treaty was signed in 1984. Photo: Mark Reinstein / Alamy Stock Photo

Originally created in the 1960s as a safeguard for Western investments in newly independent states, ISDS was designed to protect foreign capital from nationalization or expropriation under the pretext of attracting foreign direct investment to Global South countries.⁵⁸ However, in practice, ISDS has become a tool of exploitation, prioritizing corporate interests over public welfare.⁵⁹

ISDS provisions were first introduced in African trade and investment treaties during the post-colonial era, and since then, hundreds of agreements signed by African nations have incorporated these mechanisms. Notably, the United States and the DRC have a longstanding BIT that grants ISDS protections to U.S. investors operating in the DRC.⁶⁰

Since 1993, African governments have faced 171 ISDS claims, with a significant uptick in recent years. The DRC has been a frequent target, resulting in compensatory payments to foreign investors totaling approximately $22 million, which ultimately falls on taxpayers.⁶¹

Mining companies have used ISDS to challenge governments’ efforts to protect the health and safety of affected communities and the environment. Vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected, as their voices are excluded from meaningful participation in arbitral proceedings.⁶²

Moreover, when companies inflict environmental harm, ISDS tribunals may prioritize compensation for polluters rather than holding them accountable, thereby undermining governmental efforts to protect natural resources.⁶³ In cobalt mining, this environmental damage poses serious risks to local communities. If the DRC seeks to implement domestic policies and regulations to improve mining practices, ISDS provisions in the U.S.-Congo BIT could trigger costly legal disputes, diverting taxpayer dollars and hindering progress.

As a result, the U.S.-Congo BIT underscores the tension between protecting foreign investments and the DRC’s ability to manage its resources.

Negotiating Critical Minerals Agreements to Qualify for EV Tax Credits

The Biden-Harris administration’s flagship policies — such as the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and especially the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — have begun to inject billions of dollars into the clean energy economy. Estimates suggest that the IRA could increase EV sales by 44% by 2032.⁶⁴

To qualify for the IRA’s EV tax credit, a certain percentage of the critical minerals used in an EV’s battery must be sourced from or processed in a country with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement. Countries lacking such agreements with the United States have complained loudly, even threatening and launching disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO).⁶⁵

In response, the Biden administration rapidly began to negotiate “Critical Minerals Agreements” (CMAs), with the Treasury Department issuing guidance that allows these agreements to be classified as “free trade agreements.”⁶⁶ Nevertheless, labor unions, environmental organizations, and human rights groups have criticized the Treasury’s criteria for CMAs as “vague and inadequate.”⁶⁷

Per the Treasury’s guidance, a free trade agreement is classified as a CMA if it:

Reduces or eliminates trade barriers on a preferential basis;
Commits the parties to refrain from imposing new trade barriers;
Establishes high-standard disciplines in key areas affecting trade (such as core labor and environmental protections); and/or
Reduces or eliminates restrictions on exports or commits the parties to refrain from imposing such restrictions on exports.

The inclusion of “and/or” (emphasis added) indicates that an agreement needs to satisfy only one criterion to qualify. CMAs that lack binding and enforceable labor, environmental, and human rights standards in the EV supply chain could exacerbate the exploitation of vulnerable populations in the regions where these minerals are sourced, undermining the intent of the IRA to create high-quality job opportunities for U.S. workers.⁶⁸ The first — and to date only — CMA, signed with Japan, received bipartisan criticism for its opaque, rushed process and lack of any binding or enforceable standards to protect workers or the environment.⁶⁹

The U.S. is in active CMA negotiations with the European Union and the United Kingdom. Additionally, several countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, and Argentina, have expressed interest in negotiating CMAs to qualify for the tax credits. Negotiations for a CMA with the DRC could well be on the horizon, given the country’s unmatched supply of cobalt.

Treasury’s vague statutory definition opens the possibility for a CMA to be a stand-alone agreement, or simply language inserted into another broader package. Various think tanks have proposed adding CMA provisions into legislation reauthorizing the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).⁷⁰

Enacted in 2000, AGOA grants eligible African countries preferential access to the U.S. market, allowing duty-free and quota-free exports of a wide range of goods. The primary objective of AGOA is to stimulate economic growth in Africa by facilitating access to the vast U.S. consumer market. American lawmakers from across the political spectrum are working to pass a bill that would extend and modernize AGOA before its expiration date in 2025.⁷¹

Incorporating provisions similar to the U.S.-Japan CMA into AGOA in order to qualify for tax credits under the IRA could have significant downsides for local communities in resource-rich African nations like the DRC. Such CMA provisions would likely prioritize expanding mining operations to meet global demand while neglecting to address critical labor and environmental standards. Consequently, U.S. tax dollars could inadvertently incentivize dirty and dangerous mining practices in the DRC and a dozen other AGOA countries without improving conditions for workers and communities directly impacted by extraction activities.⁷²

Moreover, whether the DRC enters a CMA with the U.S. bilaterally or through provisions in the AGOA renewal, the ISDS framework embedded in the U.S.-Congo BIT will still apply. Increased mining operations spurred by CMAs are likely to intensify corporate interest in cobalt extraction, further exposing the DRC to potential ISDS attacks. This situation could deter the DRC from enforcing or strengthening regulations for fear of triggering costly lawsuits from foreign investors.

Who Benefits From the Minerals?

A central question surrounding cobalt mining is: who truly benefits from these valuable minerals? Despite holding 40% of the world’s battery mineral reserves, African countries remain largely trapped at a low level in transition mineral value chains, primarily focused on raw mineral extraction rather than processing and manufacturing in-demand technologies.⁷³ Consequently, the wealth generated from these minerals does not significantly enrich these nations. Instead, profits are enjoyed elsewhere while African nations bear the brunt of hazardous extraction practices.

The clean energy transition presents an opportunity for the DRC to increase job creation and promote sustainable development. However, despite the continent’s vast mineral wealth, persistent poverty and inequality underscore the need for structural change. A key factor limiting the DRC’s financial gain from cobalt extraction is the minimal processing prior to export.

According to the United Nations, sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. A related concept is the “just transition,” which requires countries to meet their climate commitments and ensure that in doing so, they do not push poorer countries further behind.

To maximize the benefits of its cobalt reserves, the DRC could prioritize adding value within its borders before exporting. Value addition occurs mainly during the processing phase, where cobalt is smelted and refined into a purer form, and during manufacturing, where it is transformed into finished products such as lithium-ion batteries for EVs.

Currently, a vast majority of Africa’s critical minerals are exported to manufacturing industries outside the continent, with only 2% of the continent’s energy transition minerals exports going to other African countries.⁷⁴ A landmark new report by Publish What You Pay indicates that implementing appropriate policies to increase domestic processing of clean energy technologies could boost Africa’s GDP by at least $24 billion and create 2.3 million jobs.⁷⁵

Yet, the WTO and other free trade agreements bar many tools to promote value addition. One significant exception is the use of “export restrictions,” usually in the form of taxes on exported goods.⁷⁶ These restrictions are one of the few tools resource-rich countries like the DRC can use to exert greater control over their resources and move up the value chain.⁷⁷

Three of the four criteria in the U.S. Treasury’s definition of CMAs may pose barriers to implementing value-addition policies, particularly the fourth criterion, which prioritizes reducing or eliminating export restrictions.⁷⁸ Such export restrictions empower Global South countries to assert control over their resources and challenge the profit-maximizing strategies of multinational corporations.

Unlike other CMA criteria, which are relatively vague, the export restriction clause is potentially the most binding and enforceable, carrying significant legal implications for countries attempting to assert control over their resources. This provision will likely be upheld through state-to-state dispute mechanisms and the ISDS system. In this way, export restrictions become a battleground where the interests of resource-rich nations and global corporations collide.

By prohibiting or limiting export restrictions through binding agreements, corporations can access low-cost raw materials, while resource-rich countries like the DRC are prevented from leveraging their resources to develop domestic industries. This dynamic perpetuates a cycle of dependence and exploitation, where the majority of the value generated from cobalt mining is extracted by external entities, leaving local communities to shoulder the environmental and human rights costs.

Recommendations

Adopting a multifaceted approach is essential to address the complex and urgent issues surrounding cobalt mining in the DRC and the broader implications for global supply chains. The transition to EVs and clean energy technologies must not come at the expense of human rights, environmental integrity, and equitable economic distribution. As cobalt remains crucial in this global transition, ensuring its extraction and trade uphold ethical standards is vital.

The following recommendations, drawing from the expertise of nearly 40 environmental, human rights, faith, and consumer organizations,⁷⁹ aim to promote a more just and sustainable cobalt supply chain by improving labor conditions, advancing environmental protections, and fostering local economic development.

To the extent that the United States and other developed countries aim to secure cobalt from the DRC through trade agreements like CMAs, they should implement these strategies to move away from an extractivist model that prioritizes short-term profit over the long-term environmental health and community well-being and instead help strike a balance between the growing demand for critical minerals and the rights of the communities that supply them.

Adopt a circular economy model to reduce demand for newly mined minerals and minimize environmental impacts by reusing and recycling.

Support sustainable development and job creation by building new opportunities for the communities from which minerals are extracted and processed to fully participate in and benefit from the value chain usage of those minerals. This should include commitments of financial, technical, and other assistance to help the DRC sustainably develop strategic industries of its choosing and support for tax and royalty policies designed to ensure that communities most affected by critical minerals operations are receiving direct financial benefits.

Respect the rights of frontline and Indigenous peoples by upholding Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) as enshrined in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No.169 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the Indigenous Peoples and Free, Prior and Informed Consent chapter of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA). This must include an ongoing process that allows communities to grant or withdraw consent for mining activities on their lands and obtain a social license for such projects.

Protect workers’ rights and safety by adopting and enforcing laws and regulations necessary to fulfill obligations set within the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) core conventions on forced labor, child labor, equal remuneration, discrimination and the right to organize, and collective bargaining, as well as standards based on the ILO’s Safety and Health in Mines Convention (No. 176) and IRMA’s Occupational Health & Safety chapter.

Ensure maximum environmental benefits and minimal environmental harm within critical minerals supply chains by adopting and enforcing laws and regulations to fulfill obligations under relevant Multilateral Environmental Agreements and related standards set in IRMA.

Ensure robust enforcement of human and labor rights and environmental safeguards by providing capacity-building, technical assistance and other support toward implementing these international obligations. Any CMA or trade agreement should include strong facility-specific enforcement mechanisms designed to guarantee that charges of rights violations coming from affected communities receive serious and quick consideration and that penalties for violations be sufficient to discourage bad corporate behavior and be aimed at the commercial entities directly benefiting from the rights violation rather than entire nations.

Formalize the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) sector in the DRC to improve safety, wages, and working conditions.

Require transparency throughout the supply chain, including the disclosure of beneficial ownership of all companies, to identify and address unethical practices and enable consumers and stakeholders to make informed decisions.

Protect the right of the DRC to regulate the mining industry by removing ISDS liability from existing agreements. This should include terminating the antiquated U.S.-Congo BIT to ensure sustainable development measures cannot be challenged in unaccountable tribunals.

Endnotes

¹ Earthjustice, “How Climate Change Is Fueling Extreme Weather,” July 19, 2023. Available at: https://earthjustice.org/feature/how-climate-change-is-fueling-extreme-weather#:~:text=Over%20the%20past%20century%2C%20massive,worse%20unless%20we%20take%20action.

² United Nations Environment Programme, “How do greenhouse gases actually warm the planet?” January 5, 2022. Available at: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-do-greenhouse-gases-actually-warm-planet

³ Marcia Tavares, “A just green transition: concepts and practice so far,” United Nations, November 2022. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/publication/PB_141.pdf

⁴ Alan Jenn, “How electric vehicles and other transportation innovations could slow global warming, according to IPCC” The Conversation, April 5, 2022. Available at: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-electric-vehicles-and-other-transportation-innovations-could-slow-global-warming-according-to-ipcc

⁵ Jacob Kushner, “In Congo, Lure Of Quick Cash Turns Farmers into Miners,” NPR, March 28, 2013. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175577518/in-congo-lure-of-quick-cash-turns-farmers-into-miners

⁶ Democratic Republic of Congo, GSP Hub, visited on October 10, 2024. Available at: https://gsphub.eu/country-info/Democratic%20Republic%20of%20Congo#:~:text=The%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20Congo%20is%20considered%20the%20world’s%20richest,and%20considerable%20amounts%20of%20cobalt and Trafficking in Persons Report, Department of State, June 2023. Available at: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Trafficking-in-Persons-Report-2023_Introduction-Additional-Pagesv4_FINAL.pdf

⁷ U.S. Department of Labor, Combatting Child Labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Cobalt Industry (COTECCO), visited on October 1, 2024. Available at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/combatting-child-labor-democratic-republic-congos-cobalt-industry-cotecco

⁸ John Campbell, “Why Cobalt Mining in the DRC Need Urgent Attention,” Council on Foreign Relations, October 29, 2020. Available at: https://www.cfr.org/blog/why-cobalt-mining-drc-needs-urgent-attention

⁹ The World Bank in DRC, World Bank Group, visited on October 10, 2024. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview#:~:text=DRC%20is%20among%20the%20five,in%20SSA%20lives%20in%20DRC.

¹⁰ The CHOICES Program, “Colonialism in the Congo: Conquest, Conflict, and Commerce,” Brown University Watson School of International Studies, pg. 39-40, November 2005. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/31528688/Colonialism_in_the_Congo_Conquest_Confi_flict_and_Commerce

¹¹ Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), “The Transatlantic Slave Trade,” accessed on June 26, 2024. Available at: https://eji.org/report/transatlantic-slave-trade/

¹² International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), “Geopolitics of the Energy Transition,” Accessed on September 20, 2024. Available at: https://www.irena.org/Digital-Report/Geopolitics-of-the-Energy-Transition-Critical-Materials

¹³ John Owen, et al, “Fast track to failure? Energy transition minerals and the future of consultation and consent,” Energy Research & Social Science, Vol 89, Article 102544. July 2022. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102665

¹⁴ United Nations, “Acting High Commissioner: Addressing the Legacies of Colonialism Can Contribute to Overcoming Inequalities Within and Among States and Sustainable Development Challenges of the Twenty-First Century,” September 28, 2022. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/acting-high-commissioner-addressing-legacies-colonialism-can-contribute

¹⁵ United Nations, “Acting High Commissioner: Addressing the Legacies of Colonialism Can Contribute to Overcoming Inequalities Within and Among States and Sustainable Development Challenges of the Twenty-First Century,” September 28, 2022. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/acting-high-commissioner-addressing-legacies-colonialism-can-contribute

¹⁶ Terry Gross, “How ‘modern-day slavery’ in the Congo powers the rechargeable battery economy,” NPR, February 1, 2023. Available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara

¹⁷ Jonathan Stempel, “US court sides with Apple, Tesla, other tech companies over child labor in Africa,” Reuters, March 6, 2024. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-appeals-court-dismisses-child-labor-case-against-tech-companies-2024-03-05/

¹⁸ Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Available at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2024/mcs2024-cobalt.pdf

¹⁹ Amnesty International, “‘This is what we die for’: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power Global Trade in Cobalt,” 2016. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/3183/2016/en/

²⁰ U.S. Department of Labor, Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor – Democratic Republic of the Congo, visited on October 1, 2024. Available at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/congo-democratic-republic-drc

²¹Annie Kelly, “Apple and Google named in US lawsuit over Congolese Child Cobalt Mining Death,” The Guardian, December 16, 2019. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/dec/16/apple-and-google-named-in-us-lawsuit-over-congolese-child-cobalt-mining-deaths

²² Terry Gross, “How ‘modern-day slavery’ in the Congo powers the rechargeable battery economy,” NPR, February 1, 2023. Available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara

²³ Nicola Niarchos, “The Dark Side of Congo’s Cobalt Rush,” The New Yorker, May 24, 2021. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/the-dark-side-of-congos-cobalt-rush

²⁴ Amnesty International, “Philippines: Undermining Worker Rights,” 2021. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Philippines_Undermining_Workers_Rights-ASA3543892021ENGLISH.pdf

²⁵ Amnesty International, “‘This is what we die for’: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power Global Trade in Cobalt,” 2016. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/3183/2016/en/

²⁶ U.S. Department of State, Democratic Republic of the Congo 2023 Human Rights Report, 2023. Available at: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/528267_CONGO-DEM-REP-2023-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf

²⁷ Siddarth Kara, “I saw the unbearable grief inflicted on families by cobalt mining. I pray for change,” The Guardian, December 16, 2019. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/commentisfree/2019/dec/16/i-saw-the-unbearable-grief-inflicted-on-families-by-cobalt-mining-i-pray-for-change

²⁸ Siddarth Kara, “I saw the unbearable grief inflicted on families by cobalt mining. I pray for change,” The Guardian, December 16, 2019. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/commentisfree/2019/dec/16/i-saw-the-unbearable-grief-inflicted-on-families-by-cobalt-mining-i-pray-for-change

²⁹ Anuradha Varanasi, “How Colonialism Spawned and Continues to Exacerbate the Climate Crisis,” Columbia Climate Society, September 21, 2022. Available at: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2022/09/21/how-colonialism-spawned-and-continues-to-exacerbate-the-climate-crisis/

³⁰ Earthworks, “Polluting the Future: How mining companies are polluting our nation’s waters in perpetuity,” May 1, 2013. Available at: https://earthworks.org/resources/polluting_the_future/ and Tomas de Oliveira Bredariol, “Reducing the impact of extractive industries on groundwater resources,” March 22, 2022. Available at: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/reducing-the-impact-of-extractive-industries-on-groundwater-resources

³¹ RAID, “New report exposes the environmental and human costs of DRC’s cobalt boom,” April 4, 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/report-environmental-pollution-human-costs-drc-cobalt-demand-industrial-mines-green-energy-evs-2024/

³² RAID, “New report exposes the environmental and human costs of DRC’s cobalt boom,” April 4, 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/report-environmental-pollution-human-costs-drc-cobalt-demand-industrial-mines-green-energy-evs-2024/

³³ Charlotte, Davey, “The environmental impacts of cobalt mining in Congo,” Earth.Org, March 5, 2024. Available at: https://earth.org/cobalt-mining-in-congo/

³⁴ Charlotte, Davey, “The environmental impacts of cobalt mining in Congo,” Earth.Org, March 5, 2024. Available at: https://earth.org/cobalt-mining-in-congo/

³⁵ RAID, “Beneath the Green, A critical look at the environmental and human costs of industrial cobalt mining in DRC,” pg. 41-42. March 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Report-Beneath-the-Green-DRC-Pollution-March-2024.pdf

³⁶ RAID, “Beneath the Green, A critical look at the environmental and human costs of industrial cobalt mining in DRC,” pg. 42. March 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Report-Beneath-the-Green-DRC-Pollution-March-2024.pdf

³⁷ RAID, “Beneath the Green, A critical look at the environmental and human costs of industrial cobalt mining in DRC,” pg. 41-42. March 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Report-Beneath-the-Green-DRC-Pollution-March-2024.pdf

³⁸ Amnesty International, “‘This is what we die for’: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power Global Trade in Cobalt,” 2016. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/3183/2016/en/ and Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Mining and Other Respiratory Hazards,Mining Topic: Respiratory Diseases.” visited on October 17, 2024. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/topics/respiratory-hazards.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/topics/respiratorydiseases.html

³⁹ Daan Van Brusselen, Tany Kayembe-Kitenge, Sebastien Mbuyi-Musanzayi, Toni Lubala Kasole, Leon Kabamba Ngombe, Paul Musa Obadia, “Metal mining and birth defects: a case-control study in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo,” The Lancet, Vol. 4, Issue 4, April 2020. Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30059-0/fulltext

⁴⁰ Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo,” The Lancet, Vol. 4, Issue 4, April 2020. Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30059-0/fulltext

⁴¹ Shahjadi Hisan Farjana, Nazmul Huda, Parves Mahmud, “Life cycle assessment of cobalt extraction process,” Journal of Sustainable Mining, Vol. 18, Issue 3, pg. 150-161, August 2019. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii S2300396018301836#:~:text=Particles%20emitted%20during%20cobalt%20mining,heart%20problems%2C%20and%20Thyroid%20damage

⁴² Ruokonen E-L, Linnainmaa M, Seuri M, Juhakoski P, Soderstrom K-O, “A fatal case of hard-metal disease,” Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, Vol. 22, February 1996. Available at: https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=111

⁴³ Shahjadi Hisan Farjana, Nazmul Huda, Parves Mahmud, “Life cycle assessment of cobalt extraction process,” Journal of Sustainable Mining, Vol. 18, Issue 3, pg. 150-161, August 2019. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2300396018301836#:~:text=Particles%20emitted%20during%20cobalt%20mining,heart%20problems%2C%20and%20Thyroid%20damage

⁴⁴ United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Drinking Water: What are the trends in the quality of drinking water and their effects on human health?,” Report on the Environment. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/report-environment/drinking-water#:~:text=Chemical%20exposure%20through%20drinking%20water,and%20developmental%20or%20reproductive%20effects

⁴⁵ RAID, “New report exposes the environmental and human costs of DRC’s cobalt boom,” April 4, 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/report-environmental-pollution-human-costs-drc-cobalt-demand-industrial-mines-green-energy-evs-2024/

⁴⁶ RAID, “New report exposes the environmental and human costs of DRC’s cobalt boom,” April 4, 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/report-environmental-pollution-human-costs-drc-cobalt-demand-industrial-mines-green-energy-evs-2024/

⁴⁷ RAID, “Beneath the Green, A critical look at the environmental and human costs of industrial cobalt mining in DRC,” pg. 34. March 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Report-Beneath-the-Green-DRC-Pollution-March-2024.pdf

⁴⁸ RAID, “Beneath the Green, A critical look at the environmental and human costs of industrial cobalt mining in DRC,” pg. 33-34. March 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Report-Beneath-the-Green-DRC-Pollution-March-2024.pdf

⁴⁹ RAID, “Beneath the Green, A critical look at the environmental and human costs of industrial cobalt mining in DRC,” pg. 33-34. March 2024. Available at: https://raid-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Report-Beneath-the-Green-DRC-Pollution-March-2024.pdf

⁵⁰ UNDRIP Article 26(2) states that Indigenous peoples have a right to own, use, and control their traditional lands, territories, and resources.

⁵¹ Jennifer Franco, “Reclaiming Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in the context of global land grabs,” Transnational Institute for Hands off the Land Alliance, 2014. Available at: https://www.tni.org/files/download/reclaiming_fpic_0.pdf

⁵² Amnesty International, “Forced evictions at industrial cobalt and copper mines in the DRC,” October 31, 2023. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/drc-cobalt-and-copper-mining-for-batteries-leading-to-human-rights-abuses/

⁵³ Amnesty International, “Forced evictions at industrial cobalt and copper mines in the DRC,” October 31, 2023. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/drc-cobalt-and-copper-mining-for-batteries-leading-to-human-rights-abuses/

⁵⁴ U.S. Department of State, Democratic Republic of the Congo 2023 Human Rights Report, 2023. Available at: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/528267_CONGO-DEM-REP-2023-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf

⁵⁵ Taiwo Adebayo, “Congo communities forcibly uprooted to make way for mines critical to EVs, Amnesty report says,” AP News, September 12, 2023. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/congo-mining-human-rights-73b3edcc2d485d07281db34dc3dcad2c

⁵⁶ Amnesty, “Powering Change or Business as Usual?,” September 12, 2023. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/drc-cobalt-and-copper-mining-for-batteries-leading-to-human-rights-abuses/

⁵⁷ Friends of the Congo, “Glencore in the D.R. Congo: Community Testimony,” Many 25, 2025. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuItDoFHQoI&t=1s

⁵⁸ Gus Van Harten, “Origins of ISDS Treaties,” The Trouble with Foreign Investor Protection (Oxford, 2020; online edn, Oxford Academic, 17 Dec. 2020). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198866213.003.0002

⁵⁹ Iza Camarillo, “The Corporate Colonization of Latin America: How Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Harms Indigenous Peoples,” Public Citizen, June 2024. Available at: https://gtwaction.org/isds-impacts-on-indigenous-peoples/

⁶⁰ “Congo, Democratic Republic Of (Kinshasa) Bilateral Investment Treaty,” August 3, 1984. Available at: https://2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/43544.pdf

⁶¹ UNCTAD, Investment Policy Hub, as of October 9, 2024. Available at: https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/investment-dispute-settlement/

⁶² See generally: Veolia v. Egypt, ICSID Case No. ARB/12/15, Award (May 25, 2018). Available at: https://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/18040.pdf

⁶³ Lisa Sachs, et al, “Environmental Injustice: How Treaties Undermine Human Rights Related to the Environment,” La Revue de Juristes de Sciences Po, No, 18. January 18, 2020. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3531256

⁶⁴ Peter Slowik, et al, “Analyzing The Impact Of The Inflation Reduction Act On Electric Vehicle Uptake In The United States,” ICCT, pg. II. January 2023. Available at: https://theicct.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ira-impact-evs-us-jan23.pdf

⁶⁵ WTO, “Dispute panel established to review certain tax credits under US Inflation Reduction Act,” September 23, 2024. Available at: https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news24_e/dsb_23sep24_e.htm

⁶⁶ Internal Revenue Service, “Section 30D New Clean Vehicle Credit,” Treasury Docket Number REG-120080-22, April 17, 2023. Available at: https://www.regulations.gov/document/IRS-2023-0019-0001

⁶⁷ Public Citizen, “Comment Submission: Trade Aspects of Electric Vehicle Tax Credits in Inflation Reduction Act,” IRS Treasury Docket No. REG-120080-22. June 20, 2023. Available at: https://www.citizen.org/article/joint-comments-on-the-section-30d-new-clean-vehicle-credit/

⁶⁸ The White House, “FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces Historic Rules to Create Good-Paying, High-Quality Clean Energy Jobs,” June 18, 2024. Available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/06/18/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-historic-rules-to-create-good-paying-high-quality-clean-energy-jobs/#:~:text=Outside%20analysis%20projects%20that%20the,paying%20and%20support%20proven%20pathways and Public Citizen, “Critical Minerals Agreements (CMAs),” visited on October 2, 2024. Available at: https://www.citizen.org/topic/globalization-trade/critical-minerals-agreements-cmas/

⁶⁹ Public Citizen, “U.S., Japan Sign Critical Minerals Trade Deal Without Meaningful Labor and Environmental Standards” March 28, 2023. Available at: https://www.citizen.org/news/u-s-japan-sign-critical-minerals-trade-deal-without-meaningful-labor-and-environmental-standards/

⁷⁰ Gracelin Baskaran, “Adding a Critical Minerals Agreement to the AGOA Reauthorization,” Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), February 5, 2024. Available at: https://www.csis.org/analysis/adding-critical-minerals-agreement-agoa-reauthorization and Zainab Usman and Alexander Csanadi, “How Can African Countries Participate in U.S. Clean Energy Supply Chains?” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 2, 2023. Available at: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2023/10/how-can-african-countries-participate-in-us-clean-energy-supply-chains?lang=en

⁷¹ Jason Asenso, “USTR report on AGOA can be ‘starting point’ for reauthorization talks,” Inside U.S. Trade, July 1, 2024. Available at: https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/ustr-report-agoa-can-be-starting-point-reauthorization-talks

⁷²As of 2024, AGOA eligible countries include: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eswatini, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia. The United States Trade Representative’s list is available at: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2024%20List%20of%20AGOA%20Eligible%20and%20Ineligible%20Countries%2011162023.pdf

⁷³ Publish What you Pay, “How Can Africa Make the Most of Its Transition Minerals?” September 2024. Available at: https://pwyp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/PWYP-transition-minerals-research-Draft-V4.pdf and Publish What you Pay, “Research: How Can Africa Make the Most of Its Transition Minerals?” September 2024. Available at: https://pwyp.org/research-how-can-africa-make-the-most-of-its-transition-minerals/

⁷⁴ Publish What you Pay, “How Can Africa Make the Most of Its Transition Minerals?” pg. 3. September 2024. Available at: https://pwyp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/PWYP-transition-minerals-research-Draft-V4.pdf

⁷⁵ Publish What you Pay, “How Can Africa Make the Most of Its Transition Minerals?” pg. 3, September 2024. Available at: https://pwyp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/PWYP-Transition-Minerals-briefing-EN.pdf

⁷⁶ World Trade Organization, “International export regulations and controls: Navigating the global framework beyond WTO rules,” 2024. Available at: https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/international_exp_regs_e.pdf

⁷⁷ Joanna Bonarriva et al., “Export Controls: An Overview of their Use, Economic Effects, and Treatment in the Global Trading System,” U.S. International Trade Commission, August 2009. Available at: https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/ID-23.pdf

⁷⁸ Internal Revenue Service, “Section 30D New Clean Vehicle Credit,” Treasury Docket Number REG-120080-22, April 17, 2023. Available at: https://www.regulations.gov/document/IRS-2023-0019-0001

⁷⁹ Trade Justice, “Promoting Supply Chain Resilience Joint Comments from 39 Civil Society Organizations,” Docket Number USTR-2024-0002. Available at: https://149754478.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/TradeJustice_PromotingSupplyChainResilienceJointSubmission_Final.pdf