Human rights Amnesty criticizes major e-car manufacturers

The major manufacturers of electric cars cannot adequately demonstrate how they protect workers and communities from the risks of exploitation and environmental damage in their raw material supply chains. This was criticized by Amnesty International in a human rights ranking.

The industry is "hiding behind non-transparent supply chains", explained Julia Duchrow, Secretary General of Amnesty International in Germany, on the results of the ranking published on Tuesday.

For the ranking, Amnesty International said it had assessed the human rights due diligence and self-declared guidelines of 13 major e-car manufacturers. The car manufacturers are obliged to identify and reduce the human rights risks in their raw material supply chains, the organization explained. "The production of batteries causes exploitation, health and environmental damage, particularly in the mining of metals and rare earths," it said.

Mitsubishi and Hyundai bring up the rear in the ranking

The German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is in first place in the ranking with 51 out of a possible 90 points - followed by Tesla (49 points). VW and BMW also perform comparatively well in the ranking, while the Chinese company BYD, Mitsubishi and Hyundai bring up the rear.

Amnesty International also attributed the comparatively good performance of German companies to the German Supply Chain Act, which has been in force since 2023. However, the organization still saw a need to catch up "in the disclosure of compensation measures and in the transparency of supply chains for battery production".

"Binding laws on human rights as well as environmental and climate-related due diligence obligations are needed to ensure that no one is left behind in the energy transition," Duchrow continued. "The German government and the responsible Federal Office of Economics and Export Control must ensure stringent implementation of the Supply Chain Act instead of discussing weakening or even 'suspending' it."