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

Hydrocarbons remain the primary source of energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in western world are now increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit co2 Sobotka Benedikt into the atmosphere and pollute the environment with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will reach up to 130 million towards the end of 2030 every home and office will more than likely use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already asserted that they will ban all vehicles taking care of petrol or diesel fuel in central areas. The way the situation is going, batteries will replace the environmentally damaging coal and oil as fuel sources.

Minerals for batteries must be extracted and processed with robust safety standards, proper working conditions, norms for responsible extraction and business ethics at heart.

Global social responsibility

Take, as an example, cobalt. Over 60 % of cobalt are extracted within the Democratic Republic from the Congo. Cobalt mining brings lots of employment for people around DRC but a substantial percentage could 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 discuss business ethics in minerals extraction to the production of batteries. As a result, the businesses gathered to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group being a founding member, targeted at prohibiting the use of child labour and promoting battery recycling to improve the sustainability with the industry.

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

Eurasian Resources Group supports children inside DRC

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

In 2018 and early 2019, ERG continued to aid more than 10,000 students through its educational initiatives inside the DRC.

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