EcoWatch
Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    Home Renewable Energy

    Modern Slavery Is a Global Problem in All Renewable Energy Supply Chains: New Report

    By: Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
    Updated: November 29, 2022
    Edited by Chris McDermott
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    Miners carry sacks of cobalt ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi in the Congo
    Miners carry sacks of cobalt ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi in the Congo on Oct. 12, 2022. JUNIOR KANNAH / AFP via Getty Images
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    There is growing evidence that clean energy supply chains throughout the world are linked with modern slavery, according to a new report from Australia’s Clean Energy Council. The report calls attention to Australia’s part in global efforts to stop the problem, despite the country’s relatively small role in the industry, according to a Clean Energy Council press release.

    “Australia is on a trajectory to produce the vast majority of our electricity from solar, wind, hydro and batteries by 2030, but it’s important that this shift happens in a way that is fair and equitable,” said Clean Energy Council Policy Director of Energy Generation and Storage Dr. Nicholas Aberle in the press release. “As with many other modern products ubiquitous in everyday life, renewable energy technologies can have long supply chains that are linked at various points to modern slavery.”

    Australia’s clean energy industry has encouraged governments and companies to take actions to put an end to modern slavery and forced labor, reported The Guardian.

    The report, “Addressing Modern Slavery in the Clean Energy Sector,” has asked for increased local manufacturing and renewable energy production, including a “certificate of origin” program to contend with slave labor concerns in South America, China and Africa.

    “The points of exposure most in need of attention are the manufacture of various key components and the extraction of raw minerals where renewables are expected to become a growing share of the market,” Aberle said in the press release. “One of the strategies that should be explored as part of a broader approach to this issue is the potential for establishing domestic supply chain capabilities.”

    The report said that, as Australia is on a path to getting most of its electricity supply needs met through renewable sources by 2030, it must deliberately address the issue of modern slavery in the industry, The Guardian reported.

    There has been a growing demand for balsa wood to be used in wind turbine blades, which has caused an increase in Amazon deforestation, reported Renew Economy. The balsa supply chain has led to workers in Ecuador being compensated for their labor with drugs and alcohol, and to the plundering of land rights of Indigenous communities in Peru.

    The metals and minerals used in the renewable energy industries are also a great cause for concern regarding the occurrence of modern slavery.

    “The World Bank estimates a 250 per cent rise in demand for key minerals used in wind turbines under climate action scenarios in which global temperatures are kept to within 2°C of warming. A single 3 MW wind turbine alone contains approximately 4.7 tons of copper,” the report said, according to Renew Economy.

    From 15 to 30 percent of the global supply of cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it was discovered by Amnesty International that children as young as seven were being put to work in dangerous artisanal cobalt mines where they were not given sufficient protective gear and were exposed to poisonous dust, all for less than $2 per day, the report said, as The Guardian reported.

    Cobalt is used to make batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage, and is also an important component of the permanent magnets that allow wind turbines to run at slower speeds while still producing energy.

    The report noted that China’s Xinjiang region is where 40 to 45 percent of the polysilicon for use in the solar photovoltaic supply chain is sourced, and about 2.6 million Kazakh and Uyghur people have been interned, coerced and subjected to “re-education programs” there, reported The Guardian.

    Earlier this year, the U.S. and Australian governments expressed the desire to end their almost total reliance on China for supply chains of critical minerals and renewable energy, pointing to evidence that about 80 percent of the manufacturing of solar energy technology comes from the country.

    Aberle said that, in order to create a plan that makes certain the green energy supply chain in Australia was “reliable, cost effective and slavery free,” the government needed to put together a taskforce of representatives from industry, government and civil society, The Guardian reported.

    “Urgent action is needed to address the severe modern slavery risks in Australian renewable energy supply chains and investments,” New South Wales Anti-slavery Commissioner Dr. James Cockayne said in response to the report, according to the press release. “This report is an important and welcome acknowledgment by industry of this problem and a first step towards addressing it. But we need to see industry, government, the financial sector and civil society working together to provide access to competitively costed, slavery-free renewable energy. If we don’t, modern slavery risks significantly complicating the just transition to a decarbonised economy.”

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

      Cristen is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She holds a JD and an Ocean & Coastal Law Certificate from University of Oregon School of Law and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author of the short story collection The Smallest of Entryways, as well as the travel biography, Ernest’s Way: An International Journey Through Hemingway’s Life.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      These Artists Are Turning Their London Street Into a Solar Power Station
      The climate crisis, the energy crisis in Europe and rising
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
      Emirates Successfully Tests Flying Boeing 777 Plane on Sustainable Jet Fuel
      The airline Emirates has successfully tested flying a Boeing 777-300ER
      By Paige Bennett
      BP Says Ukraine War and IRA Could Spur Energy Transition
      When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to gas shortages and
      By Olivia Rosane

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • Biden’s EPA Protects Alaska’s Bristol Bay From Controversial Pebble Mine
          by Olivia Rosane
          January 31, 2023
        • Study Using AI Warns We Are 10 to 15 Years From Breaching 1.5°C Paris Agreement Goal
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          January 31, 2023
        • These Artists Are Turning Their London Street Into a Solar Power Station
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          January 31, 2023
        • Emirates Successfully Tests Flying Boeing 777 Plane on Sustainable Jet Fuel
          by Paige Bennett
          January 31, 2023
        • U.S. Lawmakers Want Climate Envoy Kerry to Push Back on Naming Oil CEO as Head of COP28
          by Olivia Rosane
          January 31, 2023
        • BP Says Ukraine War and IRA Could Spur Energy Transition
          by Olivia Rosane
          January 31, 2023
        • 99% of U.S. Coal Plants Cost More to Run Than Replace With New Renewables, Study Finds
          by Climate Nexus
          January 31, 2023
        • Rare Earth Minerals Are Abundant Enough to Fuel Green Energy Shift, Study Says
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          January 30, 2023
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 573k
          Twitter 238k
          Instagram 37k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more