Chinese companies from the mainland, investing in minerals used in the renewable energy industry, have been accused of human rights and environmental violations, a report released by an international NGO has revealed.
The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre in its report said that Chinese companies have been accused of more than 100 human rights and environmental abuses around the world since 2021.
Chinese firms were accused of abuse across 18 countries, of which, a quarter of the abuse instances took place in Indonesia alone (27). Meanwhile, 16 cases were reported in Peru, 12 in DRC, 11 in Myanmar and seven in Zimbabwe. The abuses include Indigenous rights violations, attacks against grassroots leaders, water pollution, ecosystem destruction and unsafe working conditions.
“Our data shows human rights and environmental abuse is prevalent in the exploration, extraction and processing of transition minerals,” a spokesperson for the NGO was quoted as saying by AFP. “Local communities are bearing the brunt of these abuses.”
Under President Xi Jinping, China is heavily investing in resource-rich countries such as Indonesia, Zimbabwe, and Peru where the governments are unable to develop technology or have the money required to efficiently gather the raw material.
“The bottom line is if the energy transition is not fair, it will not be as fast as it needs to be and we will fail to meet our climate deadlines,” said Betty Yolanda, the organisation’s Director of Regional Programs.
Apart from China, Canadian, US, UK, Australian and European companies and investors have also been accused of human rights violations. labour abuse and environmental harms.
With most nations pressing towards developing renewables, the use of these minerals is expected to grow six-fold by 2040. The NGO called on China and governments across the board to take “urgent action” to mitigate the harm caused by the transition.
(With inputs from agencies)
