Car manufacturers need to boost up the standard in their aluminium supply chain, says Human Rights Watch and IDI

The global car manufacturing companies are required to do more to address the exploitation of human resources in their aluminium supply chains and the bauxite mines, including the destruction of farmland, damage to water sources and excessive greenhouse gas emissions that affect communities in Africa, Asia and South America they source from, as reported by Human Rights Watch and Inclusive Development International.

In 2019, the carmakers used nearly a fifth of all aluminium consumed worldwide, while it is predicted by 2050 the consumption of aluminium will double in volume, as the car industry’s transitions to electric vehicles.

The 63-page report “Aluminium: The Car Industry’s Blind Spot – Why Car Companies Should Address the Human Rights Impact of Aluminium Production,” chronicles the global supply chains that connect car manufacturers to mines, refineries, and smelters from countries including Guinea, Ghana, Brazil, China, Malaysia, and Australia.

Jim Wormington, a senior Africa researcher at HRW, said: “Aluminum is a blind spot for the car industry. There’s been a lot of focus on other materials that you need to make electric vehicles like cobalt and lithium for electric batteries, but very little focus on the human rights impacts of aluminium.”

“Car manufacturers see aluminium as a critical material for the transition to fuel-efficient vehicles. They should use their ever-increasing purchasing power to protect the communities whose land and environments are harmed by the aluminium industry.”

He further added: “We think that needs to change because the car industry has a huge amount of influence over mining companies and the sector more broadly. And if the car industry starts to take the human rights and environmental impacts of aluminium seriously, so will mining companies.”

HRW said in a statement: “While the world’s leading automakers have publicly committed to addressing human rights abuses in their supply chains, they have done little to evaluate and address the human rights impact of aluminium production.”

The report was partially based on meetings and correspondences with nine big car companies: BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Groupe PSA (now part of Stellantis), Renault, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. However, three other companies BYD, Hyundai, and Tesla did not respond to requests to participate in the studies.