2023-07-19
"The Modern Slavery Act will give law enforcement the tools to fight modern slavery, ensure perpetrators can receive suitably severe punishments for these appalling crimes and enhance support and protection for victims. It received Royal Assent on Thursday 26 March 2015"
" * require businesses over a certain size to disclose each year what action they have taken to ensure there is no modern slavery in their business or supply chains" (my emphasis)
" * create an independent anti-slavery commissioner to improve and better coordinate the response to modern slavery"
Yet we still import batteries that include cobalt inside all kinds of modern electronics that I have no doubt source that cobalt from mines in the Congo, which by all accounts still rely on child labour.
In her annual report for 2021/22 the then independent commissioner Dame Sara Thornton acknowledged the risk:
"5.3.4 Vulnerability is exacerbated by climate change and modern slavery is linked to
unsustainable production. But, supply chains for some critical minerals needed in the transition to clean energy also pose a high risk for modern slavery. The pandemic has shown how increased demand in some sectors and shifts in supply chain dynamics dramatically exacerbates risks. We must therefore ensure a just transition, with social outcomes at the forefront of the fight against climate change. In October 2021 the UK, in partnership with Italy, hosted the 26 th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26). To mark the start of the summit I published a blog outlining the complex relationship between climate change, the transition to a green economy and modern slavery"
The said blog (2021) acknowledges the Congo problem:
" The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for example, supplies more than half of the world’s cobalt. In 2018 the Institute for Sustainable Development highlighted the need to examine mineral supply chains to understand whether this increased demand had the potential to make existing issues worse, and what could be done about it[6]. These supply chains pose a high risk for modern slavery"
Her conclusion?
"Environmental and social issues need not be in competition with each other. A just transition, harmonising climate action and social outcomes, is essential"
[6] Green Conflict Minerals, International Institute for Sustainable Development
Oh, that's OK then.
But has the commissioner taken any steps to review the supply chains of suppliers of batteries to the UK market, or has she merely indulged in some pious hand-wringing?
Reference [6] (2018) acknowledges:
"The DRC has the largest global reserves of cobalt, with an estimated 3,500,000 metric tonnes—50 per cent of world reserves (U.S. Geological Survey, 2018)"
"The centre of what was called Africa’s World War, or the Second Congo War, from 1998–2003, legacies of human rights abuse, weak governance and exploitative practices still permeate the lives of many Congolese citizens. The country still scores high on global indicators of fragility and corruption, ranked the 6th most fragile country in the world and the 17th most corrupt ( Fund for Peace, 2018; Transparency International, 2017)"
"Despite the potential the DRC’s mineral wealth holds for its economy and development, the country’s history of war, weak governance and grand corruption pose a risk to the responsible management of ongoing mining operations"
So we must conclude that the independent commissioner knew all about the risks but seems to have limited her activities to avoid any possible encounter with reality in her assertion that:
"The Commissioner does not exercise any function in relation to individual cases save to draw conclusions for the purpose of considering a general issue"
So the commissioner has no teeth when it comes to safeguarding supply chains. Nor did she display any determination to ...
"require businesses over a certain size to disclose each year what action they have taken to ensure there is no modern slavery in their business or supply chains"
... in accordance with the Modern Slavery Act.
Even so, it would appear that the commissioner has been discontinued, since no commissioner was appointed to replace Dame Sara when her three-year tenure came to an end.
Her predecessor Kevin Hyland OBE, the very first commissioner appointed, notably threw in the towel, reportedly citing a "discretionary" level of independence.
The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner's web-site currently states:
"As we await the appointment of an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner a reduced office will continue to monitor modern slavery sector activity and developments, attend key meetings and maintain existing relationships. In the absence of a commissioner, IASC staff attending meetings or engaging with stakeholders will have no remit to provide views or take on or contribute to new work"
