Damning report exposes the environmental and human costs of DRC’s cobalt boom

April 8, 2024

Families wash clothes in the village of Sapatelo near the KCC copper-cobalt mine

Damning report exposes the environmental and human costs of DRC’s cobalt boom

Toxic pollution from cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is causing a human and environmental disaster

Cobalt is one of the most sought-after metals on the planet. From smartphones to electric car batteries, or as a superalloy in an airplane engine, it’s an essential component of modern life since it protects batteries from overheating, catching fire, and extending their lifespan. As demand for cobalt has surged in recent decades, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home to the majority of the world’s cobalt reserves, is bearing brunt of the burden.

Water Contamination Impacts

A new 110-page report raises concerns that the toxic pollution from cobalt mining is having devastating human and environmental impacts in DRC. Authored by UK corporate watchdog RAID and DRC-based African Resources Watch (AFREWATCH), it focuses on the implications of water contamination. It observes that the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is often violated for “fenceline communities living in the shadow of the world’s largest cobalt and copper mines”.

“Beneath the Green: A critical look at the cost of industrial cobalt mining in the DRC” is one of the first in-depth studies on the environmental impacts of industrial cobalt mining on the human rights of hundreds of thousands of Congolese people living in and around Kolwezi, the heart of DRC’s cobalt industry.

The findings call into question the ‘clean’ and sustainable cobalt’ narratives that multinational mining companies typically espouse.

From unaffordable health care and gynecological and reproductive health problems to reduced fish and crop yields, a dramatic increase in poverty levels

and reduced schooling for kids, to entire communities being displaced—the report paints a dark picture for already underserved populations in the DRC.

Terms like “dirty energy”, “climate apartheid” and “cobalt slavery” are being leveled against powerful multinational companies, who in a rush to meet massive global green energy demands are reaping huge profits from their cobalt ventures — at the expense of suffering African locals.

Watch RAID’s video on how contaminated water sources in DRC’s colbalt mining areas have created a health, social and environmental crisis for a people already on the brink.

We are the big losers from mining. During my 53 years of life, I have seen a lot of changes: these companies have come only to enrich themselves and to bring us death.