The briefing by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre serves as a snapshot of human rights issues in the automotive sector. It provides an overview of cases of human rights allegations and companies reactions as well as positive company actions, and guidance materials to improve human rights due diligence in the automotive sector.

The Dragon Fly Initiative (TDI) together with Drive Sustainability and the Responsible Minerals Initiative has published a study called Material Change on the risks and opportunities of collective actions by industry groups or trade associations in the automotive and electronic industries to maximise positive social, environmental and governance impacts in the raw materials supply chain. Next to the detailed raw material profiles, an interactive map permits companies to get an overview of the main countries of origin of each raw material.

The joint publication “Vom Erz zum Auto” by Misereor and Brot für die Welt put a spotlight on ores that are crucial for car manufacturing (available in German). The publication discusses common human rights violations and environmental costs related to the extraction and processing of raw materials that are essential in the production of automobiles. 

Focussing on the minerals, metals, and coal sector, the study „Human Rights Risks in Mining – A Baseline Study“ (2016) by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and the Max-Planck-Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law (MPFPR) examines and illustrates human rights risks associated with the mining sector. The study provides a comprehensive overview of typical human rights violations and environmental degradation in industrial and artisanal mining.

The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) represents an industry initiative of global companies from various sectors (automotive, aviation, technology, electronics, toy production), which seeks to promote sustainability in electronics supply chains. The RBA runs a set of working groups that address topics of particular importance for sustainable electronics industry supply chains including Chemical Management, Responsible Minerals Initiative, Environmental Sustainability, Indirect Spend, Responsible Labour Initiative, Stakeholder Initiative, Stakeholder Engagement, Student Workers, Trafficked & Forced Labour und Working Hours. Members include global corporations such as Tesla, Samsung and Apple.

The Global Battery Alliance represents a global initiative of the World Economic Forum that unites global corporations from different sectors (raw materials, technology, automobile). The aim of the Alliance is to address the social and environmental risks associated with the production of batteries that range from child labour, health and safety hazards in informal work, to poverty wages and pollution. BASF, VW and the NEC Corporations are among the members of the initiative.

The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative is a multi-stakeholder initiative aiming at a sustainable aluminium production. Members of the initiative include corporations of the automotive industry such as Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover.

The European Partnership for Responsible Minerals is a multi-stakeholder initiative that promotes better working and living conditions for miners and mining communities in conflict-affected and high-risk areas. Members of this initiative include global companies such as Intel, Apple and Philips.

The Leather Working Group is a multi-stakeholder initiative that connects more than 400 brands, manufacturers, suppliers with NGOs and end users. Focussing primarily on environmental aspects, the group seeks to promote improvement in the leather manufacturing industry by creating alignment on environmental priorities and by bringing visibility to best practices and providing guidelines for continual improvement. Corporate members of the initiative include Adidas, H&M and Primark.

The Responsible Mica Initiative

http://www.responsible-mica-initiative.com/

As part of their human rights due diligence for conflict minerals, Boening and Microsoft started to support the project “Children Out of Mining“ in 2014. The project was run by the NGO PACT in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where child labour is widespread. Katanga supplies a large proportion of Tin, Tantalum and Tungsten to the global markets. In the course of the project, child labour in the participating areas could be reduced by 89%.

Merck describes its approach to sustainable supply chain management of the raw material Mica in its CSR-Report 2016. In 2008, Merck discovered child labour in its mica supply chains in the Jharkhand and Bihar regions of India. The CSR report describes what measures Merck has taken to respond to this discovery. The company took the conscious decision to continue existing business relationships. At the same time, processes have been developed to ensure that mica is sourced only from controlled mines.

In 2011, Motorola and the AVX Corporation jointly set up the programme Solutions for Hope. The programme was initially created to test the feasibility of responsible, traceable sourcing of tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in order to promote economic stability in the area. Today the initiative supports the collaboration of companies, civil society organizations and governments in their endeavour to source minerals responsibly from regions experiencing conflict that characterized by limited market access and opaque supply chains. Since 2016 Motorola and AVX use a cloud based due diligence process that is intended to guarantee the traceability of their raw materials from Ruanda.