Elon Musk Appears Not To Take Tesla's Child Labor Concerns Seriously

Forbes

Last year, just after Tesla’s board and investors voted down a proposal to hire an outside monitor to ensure the electric vehicle maker’s cobalt suppliers weren’t using child or forced labor at mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Elon Musk pledged to do exactly that – and more.  “I heard a question raised about cobalt mining and you know what? We will do a third-party audit,” the world’s wealthiest person told a raucous, adoring crowd of shareholders at Tesla’s annual meeting in May 2023. “In fact, we’ll put a webcam on the mine. If anybody sees any children, please let us know,” he said, giggling.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2024/07/02/elon-musks-laughable-new-solution-to-teslas-child-labor-worries/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Elon Musk's laughable new solution to Tesla's child labor worries.

00:07Last year, just after Tesla's board and investors voted down a proposal to hire an outside monitor to ensure the electric vehicle makers'

00:15cobalt suppliers weren't using child or forced labor at mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo,

00:21Elon Musk pledged to do exactly that and more.

00:26Speaking to a raucous, adoring crowd of shareholders at Tesla's annual meeting in May 2023,

00:32Musk, now the world's wealthiest person, said,

00:36I heard a question raised about cobalt mining, and you know what? We will do a third-party audit.

00:41In fact, we'll put a webcam on the mine.

00:45He added while giggling,

00:47If anybody sees any children, please let us know.

00:50But Forbes has learned that a year later, Musk's promised webcam hasn't materialized as expected.

00:56Rather than a live camera feed, the Komodo Copper Company, that's Tesla's main cobalt source,

01:02instead posts a single photo of the sprawling mine complex in southern Congo every month,

01:07taken by an Airbus satellite orbiting far above the Earth.

01:11There are no children to be seen, but that's because the resolution isn't nearly sufficient to reveal anything smaller

01:17than processing facilities and the scarred landscape of a highly industrialized open-pit mine.

01:24Tesla also claims to have had multiple third-party reviews of working conditions at Komodo,

01:29which is owned by the global mining giant Glencore, according to its latest environmental impact report.

01:35The company said,

01:47It goes on,

01:56But, according to Courtney Wicks, the executive director of Investor Advocates for Social Justice,

02:02neither the monthly satellite image nor the third-party reviews address ongoing problems with cobalt and copper mining.

02:09She represented the group of Tesla shareholders last year

02:12who tried to get the company to adopt more rigorous guidelines for cobalt sourcing in 2023.

02:17Wicks told Forbes,

02:24She said that steps Tesla has taken,

02:32Michael Posner, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business

02:37and director of NYU's Center for Business and Human Rights,

02:40said that's because the issue isn't mainly what's happening at the Komodo mine complex,

02:44but in neighboring unregulated mines.

02:47A new study he worked on with the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights

02:51estimates that about 40,000 people under 18 work or are present at the Artisanal Small-Scale Mining,

02:58or ASM, operations in Congo.

03:01According to the study, children are often there,

03:10because families need additional income."

03:14Posner said,

03:26Cobalt from these smaller-scale mines is sold to traders

03:29and mixed in with metal coming from industrial mines like Komodo.

03:33But, Posner said,

03:34Tesla's not monitoring them at all,

03:39Posner said that a further complicating factor

03:42is cobalt from Congo is shipped to China for refining,

03:45making it even harder to ensure that it's not sourced from an artisanal mine.

03:50He said,

03:58Cobalt is a crucial component of the batteries Tesla builds for its electric vehicles.

04:03Found in combination with copper,

04:05the material acts as a stabilizing ingredient in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries

04:10that improves energy density.

04:12Congo is the leading source, with about 70% of the world's cobalt.

04:17While cobalt currently goes for about $28,000 per metric ton,

04:21less than half the price it was two years ago,

04:24it's still lucrative to mine.

04:26Batteries using it go into everything from iPhones to laptops to electric cars.

04:32While Musk's company isn't the single biggest consumer of cobalt,

04:36its leading position in the EV space

04:38has made it a focus of child labor and human rights activists.

04:42For full coverage, check out Alan Onsman's piece on Forbes.com.

04:48This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:51Thanks for tuning in.

05:02Forbes.com

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