We need to start centering Congo in the climate conversation.
There is no climate justice without the liberation of the Congolese people.
As someone immersed in the climate space — at work, and on my personal media feed — I am more or less aware of the environmental injustice defined by the rare mineral mining industry, specifically the mining of Cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The global salience of the violence in Gaza and the Palestinian struggle has sparked conversations about other ongoing genocides in Sudan, Congo, and West Papua to many, including myself. I picked up ‘Cobalt Blue’ by Siddharth Kara to learn more about the hidden, violent truth behind the cobalt industry that powers batteries necessary for a clean energy transition in the West. It has been a month and a half since I wrapped up this read, but there hasn’t been a day where the plight of the Congolese artisan miners has left my thoughts. This insight has changed my life and the way I interact with clean energy advocacy forever.
It hurts to realize how long I’ve been ignorant of the scale of the Congolese struggle. I know there is a reason for the general unawareness among the educated, privileged, living in the US like me. Still, I know everything captured in Kara’s book hardly scratches the surface. The author even repeatedly emphasized how his commentary and report about the brutal realities of the Congolese community remains an understatement.
Siddharth Kara, the author of Cobalt Blue is a researcher, activist, and expert on modern slavery. He’s been a leading Western voice on the Congo mining crisis. His book documents his visits to the DRC for his research where he uncovers the severity of the dehumanizing conditions and practices of the cobalt mining industry in multiple villages.
TW: poverty, child labor, disability, premature death.
I obviously won’t be able to capture the level of detail shared in the book here. But to give a snapshot of the injustice: men, boys, and children mine for cobalt in militarized sites with no machinery gear or safety equipment. They risk disabling injuries and being buried alive for a mere $1-3 wage per 12-hour work day. Families in the DRC almost entirely rely on this source of income.
Although the DRC is a top exporter of minerals necessary for the booming tech industry, the country’s economy remains entrenched in extreme poverty. And the systemic violence of poverty subjects communities to other inescapable forms of violence. Most families can’t afford to send their kids to school at $3 per month. Hence, children as young as 11 become contributors to the household income through cobalt mining — often to support family members who have become disabled or dead from a mining accident.
As I dove deeper into the horrors, I naturally wondered how the industries that relied on cobalt, especially tech, got away with so many human rights violations within their supply chain. I learned that the ongoing use of child labor and dangerous working conditions remained untraceable because it is undocumented labor. There is no real infrastructure in place for the raw mineral extraction process. Anyone who wants to make some money can do so by digging for cobalt at mining sites and cashing them in at the end of the day. The average miner is on their feet for 10-12 hours a day. It’s a highly exploitative (not so) ‘free’ market system. These artisanal miners then cash in their minerals to sketchy middlemen contracted by legitimate mineral refinery companies. Therefore, when tracing down the cobalt supply chain, it ends there.
That’s also why the disclaimers from companies that profit from cobalt can legally deny the involvement of child labor in their supply chain. (See below). These claims are clearly untrue, considering DRC contains the majority of high-grade cobalt sources globally. However, these so-called supply chain transparency groups have no real way of tracing undocumented labor and proving artisanal mining is connected to their business unless you’re at the mining site itself —which author Kara has described as heavily militarized and surveilled by the DRC government. Suggesting that any accountability efforts are subject to prosecution and trouble.
With these sketchy systems in place, companies cannot ‘prove’ that their cobalt is unethically mined or claim responsibility for multiple human rights violations. When in reality, DRC men, boys, and children risk their lives DAILY to keep this industry alive. Nobody becomes liable when a miner dies or gets severely hurt in the process. The DRC government uses military control to hide the truth to keep exploiting their people and to maintain cordial international relations.
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So here’s where I’m struggling morally, as a climate activist grounded in safeguarding human rights first, and beautiful nature second. Is it really ‘clean’ energy when Congo men and children are exploited and dying to ensure the West can be carbon-free? Because it’s starting to sound a lot like greenwashed colonialism.
What’s happening in Congo is directly tied to climate and sustainability. It’s blatant environmental injustice in its most brutal form happening literally right now. We cannot stay silent about naming the relationship between clean energy and the Congo genocide. I promise you, it will not hurt our movement. In fact, prioritizing measures to ensure frontline communities can flourish and live in dignity aligns with climate justice.
Unfortunately, I know it’s going to be a tough case to sell. There’s always going to be a louder, whiter voice in our movement that lacks the revolutionary discipline to be in solidarity with the Congolese struggle. Our movement loves to co-opt justice language. They don’t want to hear that human beings are dying for their EVs because it hurts the rate of divestment.
Realizing the connection between exploited miners and clean energy was a tough awakening but an important one. I can no longer in the right conscience celebrate my city’s electrification investment without being extremely critical about whose expense makes this ‘win’ possible. I will not be complicit in the age-old tale of the West progressing by stealing from Africa.
Now for the million-dollar question: How do we actually help? Also, whose fault is it, really? It’s not inaccurate to blame the fascist, oppressive, and corrupt DRC government. However, there is no realistic way to hold them accountable.
On our end, there is a whole population and billions of dollars of industries in the West that benefit from cobalt. There is a growing, resilient movement against the climate crisis and towards clean energy to keep communities healthy and reduce emissions. In the same breath touting environmental justice, it makes no sense to not prioritize the Congo humanitarian crisis in our conversations about climate.
When the Palestinian struggle finally gained the attention it deserved, no one knew how to help. But we found different ways to show our solidarity and ramped up collective pressure on our elected officials, even if they did not have the direct call to stop the bombing. Now, although nothing about the Palestinian struggle has improved, a position that was once incredibly unpopular and subject to censorship and retaliation is a no-brainer across the board.
The climate community needs to be real about our direct link with the Congo genocide —as uncomfortable as it may be. It’s not exactly ‘clean’ energy if powering our EVs and grids in the West costs the literal lives of communities of the Global South. There is no climate justice without the liberation of the Congolese people.
such a good read! ty for sharing your perspective on this !