- Reference: 2020/4066
- Question by: David Kurten
- Meeting date: 19 November 2020
The makers of wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles and other supposedly environment-friendly technologies claim that these technologies are ‘green,’ ‘clean’ and ’just.’ Cobalt is an expensive metal used in electric car batteries, costing about $35,000 per ton. Some 59% of all cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cobalt mining in DRC is often done by children, some as young as seven, with as many as 40,000 working in what are reported to be brutal and unsafe conditions 1 . Is it morally right that the GLA should be developing energy policy, without paying heed to the...