Mining: Modern Slavery in the 21st Century
When we use modern technology – picking up our smartphone, starting our electric car, or wearing a piece of jewelry – the origin of the metals is a factor we don’t think about. However, the supply chain is riddled with serious human rights violations. Beneath the surface of the “green shift” and the digital revolution lies a global system of resource extraction, which in turn is linked to a disturbing scale of human rights abuses. Mining has become a major driver of modern slavery, a reality that involves all consumers in the global supply chain. Including us!
In regions such as eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the extraction of minerals such as columbite-tantalum (coltan), cobalt, and gold takes place under conditions that a number of human rights organizations and the United Nations have documented as systematic forced labor. Reports indicate that children, some as young as seven, are involved in heavy and dangerous work, manually digging tunnels that regularly collapse. Adults often work long shifts for minimal compensation, often as little as one or two dollars a day, or sometimes not at all. Armed groups control the mining areas and use forced labor, sexual violence, and child labor as means of control. The Global Slavery Index estimates that over one million people are trapped in this sector in Congo alone. The cobalt mined here ends up in batteries used by major corporations, including Tesla, Apple, Samsung, and Volkswagen. The gold is channeled to the electronics and computer industries, including Navida, Dell, HP, and IBM. Much also ends up in the well-known jewelry markets, especially in places like Dubai and Switzerland.
This pattern of exploitation is not limited to Africa. In Bolivia, indigenous people are forced to work in silver and tin mines under deeply concerning conditions. In countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, child labor has been found in gold mines where workers are exposed to toxic mercury. Furthermore, local people in Ghana have been subjected to forced labor or forced displacement due to illegal mining by foreign operators. The common denominator across these locations is the presence of weak state governance, corruption, long and non-transparent supply chains used by international buyers, and an insufficient level of scrutiny by end consumers.
The scale of this problem is significant. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that at least 25 million people globally are subject to modern slavery. Of this number, over 8 million are estimated to be directly involved in the extraction of minerals, oil, and gas. Excluding the commercial sex industry, mining is reported to be the sector with the highest incidence of forced labor.
Although terms such as “conflict minerals” or “blood minerals” are often used, the core problem is forced labor and exploitation. This persists because it is extremely profitable. When a miner in Congo receives a minimum daily wage while the global price of a mineral like cobalt has skyrocketed, significant profits are made from serious human suffering. Claims by battery manufacturers that they are “working to improve conditions” can be undermined if their purchasing practices do not ensure a living wage for miners, raising concerns about the sincerity of such corporate ethics efforts.
Norway, despite its commitment to ethical standards, is also involved. We import essential battery components such as cobalt, lithium and nickel to support the national “green shift”. Although we in Norway position ourselves as a leader in ethical pension funds, we purchase minerals from the same supply chains. When large battery projects such as Freyr Battery and Morrow Batteries are built with significant government investment, sustainability and the green shift are promoted. There is too little focus on the origin of the raw materials, the environmental impact of mining and the human cost.
Effective solutions exist, but they require a political will that has so far been absent:
Mandatory Transparency: Full and verifiable traceability throughout the supply chain, from the mine site to the finished consumer product.
Effective Human Rights Due Diligence: Strict enforcement of legal human rights due diligence obligations in all mineral importing countries, to ensure that commitments are translated into meaningful action.
Ethical Procurement Pricing: Implementation of pricing mechanisms that significantly increase the cost of ethically sourced minerals, thereby reducing the competitive advantage of businesses that rely on forced labor.
International Accountability: Establishment of mechanisms for international prosecution of companies and individuals who knowingly purchase goods produced through forced labor.
If we continue to accept a system where the suffering of a child in a mine is the price of a cheaper product, we are accepting this cruel treatment of people. Future generations may come to judge our passive consumption habits more critically than we judge ourselves today.
The time for concrete action is now. It is necessary to move beyond rhetoric and break these chains of exploitation, recognizing that the victims of forced labor in the mining industry continue to suffer under a new generation of masters – a group to which we, through our consumption, are connected.