Podcast: Cobalt mines in Africa are a vital part of the renewable energy supply chain. But at what cost to the people who work in them?
Podcast: Cobalt mines in Africa are a vital part of the renewable energy supply chain. But at what cost to the people who work in them?
The mineral cobalt is in almost everything required for the future. Laptops, smartphones and semiconductors all use this rock, which is mostly pulled out of mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Cobalt, along with lithium is also set to revolutionise the way we live and power our world through solar panels and enormous battery storage, but as much as 30 percent of the cobalt mined in the DRC is done so by people working under conditions described as modern slavery. So the question is, now that we know, what do we do about it?
In this episode of Leave it to the Experts, we explore what is being done to preserve our world against modern slavery a problem that traps 50 million people around the world. Providing expert insight is Associate Professor Martijn Boersma from the University of Sydney.
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