All electric car manufacturers fail in the Human Rights Ranking.

Major electric car manufacturers have failed to adequately demonstrate how they protect workers and communities from exploitation and environmental damage in their raw material supply chains. Amnesty International criticized this in its human rights rankings.

The industry “hides behind opaque supply chains,” Amnesty International Germany secretary-general Julia Duchrow explained of the rankings released on Tuesday. No company in the industry was able to adequately explain how it addressed human rights risks in its raw material supply chains.

According to Amnesty International's own statement, the organization has conducted human rights due diligence on the rankings Self-Declaration Guidelines Earned ratings from 13 major electric vehicle manufacturers.

The group said carmakers have an obligation to identify and reduce human rights risks in their raw material supply chains. “The production of batteries causes exploitation, health and environmental damage, particularly in metals and rare earth mining,” the report said.

Mitsubishi and Hyundai ranked at the bottom

German automaker Mercedes-Benz ranked first with 51 points out of 90, followed by Tesla (49 points). Stellantis (Opel, Peugeot, etc.), Volkswagen and BMW also perform well in the rankings, while Chinese companies BYD, Mitsubishi (Japan) and Hyundai (South Korea) are at the bottom.

Out of 90 points, car companies receive the following ratings (the more points, the better):

Amnesty International's assessment is based on the company's publicly available reports, policies and documents. This ranking only shows the transparency of manufacturers based on their own information. Actual behavior may vary.

Amnesty International also attributes the relatively good performance of German companies to Germany's supply chain law, which will come into effect in 2023. However, the group still believes there is still catching up to do “in terms of disclosure of compensation measures and transparency in the battery production supply chain.”

Batteries put a strain on the CO2 emissions of electric vehicles. However, electric cars are significantly more environmentally friendly over their entire service life, as they produce far fewer CO2 emissions during operation. Image correction

“To leave no one behind in the energy transition, binding human rights laws are needed, but also environmental and climate-related due diligence,” Ducrot continued. “The federal government and the responsible federal economic and export control offices must ensure strict enforcement of supply chain laws and not discuss weakening or even 'suspension'.”

(SUD/AFP/OIL)

More than half of Swiss people see electric cars as a technology of the future. But willingness to pay for renewable energy travel is cautious.

In Switzerland, people are wary of their willingness to pay for transport using renewable energy and the lowest possible greenhouse gas emissions. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by opinion research agency GfK on behalf of car importer Amag.