Amnesty: ‘BYD leads EV-makers’ ranking scoring worst on human rights’

Amnesty International reports in a new report that car manufacturers BYD, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai score the worst on human rights in the production of their electric cars.

According to the Human Rights Organization, mining potentially exposes communities to exploitation, health risks, and environmental damage caused by the rapid expansion of mines to extract metals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel used in batteries.

Asia versus Europe and the US

In the new report, ‘Recharge for Rights: Ranking the Human Rights Due Diligence Reporting of Leading Electric Vehicle Makers’, Amnesty rates companies’ performance on criteria, such as commitment to human rights compliance, procedure to identify risks, supply chain mapping, and reporting and remediation measures, with a score of up to 90 points.

None of the 13 major EV manufacturers scored above 51 on Amnesty’s human rights due diligence assessment. At the bottom of the list is the Chinese company BYD, which received an 11/90. Germany’s Mercedes-Benz scored the highest, with 51/90 points.

After BYD, Mitsubishi (13) and Hyundai (21) score the worst, followed by Geely Auto (22), Nissan (22), Renault (27), and General Motors (32). In turn, Ford (41), BMW (41), VW Group (41), Stellantis (42), and Tesla (49) situate themselves near Mercedes-Benz’s result.

‘Alarming and widespread’

According to Amnesty, the human rights violations associated with the mining of minerals for the energy transition are “alarming and widespread”, and “the industry’s response is seriously lacking” as communities suffer forced evictions, health problems from pollution, and difficult access to water.

As countries where indigenous peoples’ rights are abused, Amnesty cites The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Canada.

Too limited or vague evidence

Amnesty says that while some progress has been made since the first report was published in 2017, the overall scores are a huge disappointment. It also expects some indigenous peoples to come under even more pressure just as the demand for EVs grows. Therefore, it also calls on manufacturers to respect human rights, which is not a “hollow phrase, but one issue they take seriously.”

Overall, Amnesty argues that the companies involved still provide too limited or vague evidence that they respect human rights, which is the reason for the low score. Information about their risk assessments and stakeholder engagement is also too limited, and the companies have little transparency about the supply chain. “This shows they have a long way to go before they meet international standards,” Amnesty said.

Finally, Amnesty also calls on governments to tighten their own human rights due diligence obligations for companies based in their territories or for their export and import licenses.