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Stop using children to mine for
lithium-ion batteries!
lithium-ion batteries!
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Dear friends, They are ten years old. Every day they head out – not to school, but to holes in the ground where they are forced to look for cobalt. Every day, they descend into mining shafts that are barely wider than their bodies, without boots, helmets, or even maps. They carry with them only flashlights strapped to their foreheads. Some spend up to 24 hours at a time inside the mines. And when the mine shafts collapse – and many do – the children are buried inside. This is the reality for tens of thousands of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supplies electronics companies with the minerals they need to create lithium-ion batteries. The computer or phone you are reading this email on right now probably contains minerals mined by children. When Linda read about how children were being abused and even killed for batteries, she was devastated. She knew she had to speak up for these children, so she started a Care2 petition demanding an end to child labor in cobalt mining. Will you sign her petition? It doesn't have to be this way. Corporations have enough power and money to influence the situation, but they often choose not to. The mineral company Huayou Cobalt and its subsidiary, Congo Dongfang Mining International (CDM), source more than 40% of their cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo – and they have chosen to turn a blind eye to child labor abuses. But they can't keep doing that if consumers like us choose to hold them accountable. We know corporations can do better, but they won't improve on their own. Human rights organizations around the world are calling on companies like CDM and Huayou Cobalt to investigate whether their cobalt is extracted under hazardous conditions or using child labor. They must make a commitment to source their minerals responsibly. And we have to hold them to it. Thank you for all that you do,
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