How does EV battery production impact the local Environment in producing

REGIONS?

Local (i.e. non-greenhouse gas) environmental risks to air, water, and ecosystems are an unavoidable result of mineral extraction operations. Extraction of mineral resources used in industries from electronics and basic consumer items to jewelry and heavy industry has long impacted the health of local residents, disrupted natural environments, and used significant energy and water resources.32 Both EV battery component minerals and fossil fuels are part of this story.

For example, salar-based lithium extraction, which takes place primarily in the “lithium triangle” (covering the Andean regions of Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, which as noted earlier is not currently producing large quantities) uses and discharges significant quantities of water, which can negatively affect neighboring farms and communities by diminishing and polluting supplies.33 Cobalt mining in Congo can cause water pollution, air quality impacts, and possible radioactive exposure, affecting both miners and surrounding communities.34 Nickel mining operations around the world have been responsible for toxic air pollution and other harms.35 At the same time, the mining industry has invested significant resources to address the environmental footprint of mining operations, and many mining companies work closely with public officials and communities to try to manage the local impacts of extraction.36

Oil and gas extraction, meanwhile, has triggered some of the most well-known environmental disasters in history. In the United States, events like the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion have had significant policy and social impacts. These offshore oil drilling- and transportation-related spills can destroy marine species and habitats and damage coastal economies. And even in areas with strong environmental regulations like California, onshore oil and gas production is associated with reduced air quality, groundwater contamination, habitat disruption, and human health risks including asthma and cancers.37 (Onshore spill events are typically lower-profile and less disastrous than offshore events, but hundred thousand-gallon spills still occur with some regularity.)38

Given the wide range of mining techniques, host countries, and regulatory regimes applicable to the extraction of oil and hard minerals, analysts face challenges comparing the direct local environmental impacts. But as consumers and vehicle manufacturers shift toward more sustainable transportation options, identifying and addressing these impacts—through both regulation and voluntary action—will become increasingly important, regardless of vehicle type.

 

 

 

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CENTER F OR LA W, ENERG Y & THE ENVIRONMENT | NA TURAL RE SOURCE GO VERNANCE INSTITUTE

ARE COMPANIES AND GOVERNMENTS IN THE EV BATTERY MATERIALS SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGING SUSTAINABILITY RISKS?

As governments, companies, and civil society organizations increase their awareness of sustainability challenges throughout the minerals supply chain—including but not limited to the EV battery materials supply chain—they have begun to develop a number of initiatives and regulatory regimes to address key sustainability risks. These requirements overlap substantively in many cases, with measures relating to human rights and labor, corruption and payments to government, environmental harms, and more. However, they vary in the entities to which they pertain and that are responsible for application, as well as the minerals they cover and the mechanisms for compliance. The result is a patchwork of standards that creates a strong template for comprehensive supply chain management but may not invite straightforward compliance. Key standards and initiatives include, but are not limited to:

• The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas;

• The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative;

• The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights;

• The Responsible Minerals Initiative’s Responsible Minerals Assurance Process;

• The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance’s Standard for Responsible Mining;

• The Cobalt Institute’s Cobalt Industry Responsible Assessment Framework;

• The London Metal Exchange’s Responsible Sourcing Requirements;

• The International Council on Mining and Metals’ Mining Principles; and

• The World Economic Forum’s Global Battery Alliance. Key legal regimes and regulations include, but are not limited to:

• Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010;

• The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation;

• The DRC Mining Ministry Circular of September 2011;

• The French Devoir de Vigilance;

• The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;

• The UK Bribery Act 2010;

• The French Sapin II Law;

• The U.S. Global Magnitsky Act;

• The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015;

• The Canadian Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act of 1998; and

• The Dutch Child Labor Due Diligence Act.

A structured map or taxonomy defining and classifying these standards would offer actors throughout the supply chain a streamlined method to determine their most feasible pathway for comprehensive compliance.

 

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CONCLUSION:

EV BATTERY SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES AND FURTHER NEEDS

As governments, businesses, and consumers move to increase adoption of EVs, questions around the sustainability of the supply chain will grow. The resources and information in this brief may help highlight key areas in need of industry and policy action to increase sustainability. They may also address some of the biggest challenges of supply chain management and answer some of the most common questions about EVs in relation to their fossil fuel-powered alternatives. CLEE and NRGI’s research initiative will offer additional recommendations in a forthcoming report, building on the facts contained in this brief.

 

 

 

 

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CENTER F OR LA W, ENERG Y & THE ENVIRONMENT | NA TURAL RE SOURCE GO VERNANCE INSTITUTE

REFERENCES

1. See World Resources Institute, “World Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 2016,” available at https://www.wri.org/resources/ data-visualizations/world-greenhouse-gas-emissions-2016; California Air Resources Board, California Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2000-2017, available at https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/ cc/inventory/pubs/reports/2000_2017/ghg_inventory_ trends_00-17.pdf.

2. Qiang Dai et al., “Life Cycle Analysis of Lithium-Ion Batteries for Automotive Applications,” Batteries 2019, 5, 48, available at https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/5/2/48/htm; T&E, “Life Cycle Analysis of the Climate Impact of Electric Vehicles”; ICCT, “Effects of Battery Manufacturing on Electric Vehicle Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions; UCS, Cleaner Cars from Cradle to Grave; Hanjiro Ambrose and Alissa Kendall, “Effects of battery chemistry and performance on the life cycle greenhouse gas intensity of electric mobility,” Transportation Research Part D 47, 182-194 (2016), available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S1361920915300390.

3. International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), “Effects of Battery Manufacturing on Electric Vehicle Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions” (February 2018), available at https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/EV-life- cycle-GHG_ICCT-Briefing_09022018_vF.pdf; Transport & Environment (T&E), “Life Cycle Analysis of the Climate Impact of Electric Vehicles” (October 2017), available at https://www. transportenvironment.org/sites/te/files/publications/TE%20

-%20draft%20report%20v04.pdf; Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Cleaner Cars from Cradle to Grave (November 2015), available at https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/ default/files/attach/2015/11/Cleaner-Cars-from-Cradle-to- Grave-full-report.pdf.

4. World Economic Forum (WEF) and Global Battery Alliance (GBA), A Vision for a Sustainable Battery Value Chain in 2030 (September 2019), p. 20, available at http://www3.weforum. org/docs/WEF_A_Vision_for_a_Sustainable_Battery_Value_ Chain_in_2030_Report.pdf.

5. UCS, “Are Electric Vehicles Really Better for the Climate? Yes. Here’s Why.” (February 11, 2020), available at https:// blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/are-electric-vehicles-really- better-for-the-climate-yes-heres-why.

6. See, e.g., Hanjiro Ambrose et al., “Driving rural energy access: a second-life application for electric- vehicle batteries,” Environmental Research Letters 9, 094004 (2014), available at https://iopscience.iop.org/ article/10.1088/1748-9326/9/9/094004/pdf.

7. WEF and GBA, A Vision for a Sustainable Battery Value Chain in 2030, pp. 27-28.

 

 

8. Id.; Auke Hoekstra, “The Underestimated Potential of Battery Electric Vehicles to Reduce Emissions,” Joule 4, 1404 (June 2019), available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S2542435119302715.

9. See, e.g., S.L. Winkler et al., “Vehicle criteria pollutant (PM, NOx, CO, HCs) emissions: how low should we go?” npj Climate and Atmospheric Science 1, 26 (2018), available at https:// www.nature.com/articles/s41612-018-0037-5.

10. See Indra Overland, “The geopolitics of renewable energy: Debunking four emerging myths,” Energy Research & Social Science 49 (2019), 36-40, available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S2214629618308636; Benjamin K. Sovacool et al., “Sustainable minerals and metals for a low-carbon future,” Science Vol. 367, Issue 6473 (Jan. 3 2020), 30-33, available at https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/367/6473/30. full.pdf.

11. T&E, “Electric vehicle life cycle analysis and raw material availability” (Oct. 2017), available at https:// www.transportenvironment.org/sites/te/files/ publications/2017_10_EV_LCA_briefing_final.pdf.

12. United States Geological Survey (USGS), Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019, pp. 50-51, available at https://www.usgs.gov/ centers/nmic/mineral-commodity-summaries,

13. Id. at 98-99.

14. See Kostiantyn Turcheniuk et al., “Ten years left to redesign lithium-ion batteries,” Nature (July 25, 2018), available at https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05752-3/.

15. WEF and GBA, A Vision for a Sustainable Battery Value Chain in 2030, p. 29; see Stella Soon, “As electric vehicle production ramps up worldwide, a supply crunch for battery materials is looming,” CNBC (July 26, 2019), available at https://www.cnbc. com/2019/07/26/electric-car-production-rises-supply- crunch-for-battery-metals-looms.html.

16. Several international initiatives are being developed to target governance considerations and reduce potential supply bottlenecks that could impede the global energy transition. See, e.g., U.S. Department of State Bureau of Energy Resources, Energy Resource Governance Initiative, 2019, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ Energy-Resource-Governance-Initiative-ERGI-Fact-Sheet.  pdf.

17. See, e.g., Turcheniuk et al.

 

 

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18. Benjamin K Sovacool et al.; T&E, “Electric vehicle life cycle analysis and raw material availability”; see Gavin Harper et al., “Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles,” Nature 575(7781), 75-86 (November 2019), available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1682-5.pdf; WEF and GBA, A Vision for a Sustainable Battery Value Chain in 2030, p. 30-31.

19. See, e.g., Amnesty International, Profits and Loss: Mining and Human Rights in Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo (2013), available at https://www.amnesty.org/ download/Documents/12000/afr620012013en.pdf; Amnesty International, Mining in Guatemala: Rights at Risk (2014), available at https://www.amnesty.org/download/ Documents/4000/amr340022014en.pdf; Human Rights Watch, “What...if Something Went Wrong?”: Hazardous Child Labor in Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Philippines (2015), available at https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/09/29/ what-if-something-went-wrong/hazardous-child-labor-

small-scale-gold-mining; Human Rights Watch, “No Year without Deaths”: A Decade of Deregulation Puts Georgian Miners at Risk (2019), available at https://www. hrw.org/report/2019/08/22/no-year-without-deaths/ decade-deregulation-puts-georgian-miners-risk.

20. As examples of the mineral industry’s evolving approach to human rights and other impacts, The International Council provides several guidance documents for mining companies: on such topics as Understanding Company-Community Relations, Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights: Implementation Guidance Tools, Good Practice Guide on Indigenous Peoples and Mining, and Demonstrating Value: A Guide to Responsible Sourcing. See https://guidance. miningwithprinciples.com/ for these and other documents.

21. For an overview of major governance challenges associated with extractive industries, see Natural Resource Governance Institute, Natural Resource Charter (2014), available at https:// resourcegovernance.org/approach/natural-resource-charter.

22. See Amnesty International, This Is What We Die For (2016), pp. 22-24, available at https://www.amnesty.org/download/ Documents/AFR6231832016ENGLISH.PDF.

23. Enough Project, Powering Down Corruption (October 2018),

p. 19, available at https://enoughproject.org/wp-content/ uploads/PoweringDownCorruption_Enough_Oct2018-web. pdf; Amnesty International, This Is What We Die For, pp. 34-35.

24. Resource Matters, See No Evil -- Poorly Managed Corruption Risks in the Cobalt Supply Chain (2019), available at https:// resourcematters.org/see-evil-speak-evil-poorly-managed- corruption-risks-cobalt-supply-chain; Kadhim Shubber and Neil Hume, “Glencore under investigation by US commodities regulator,” Financial Times (Apr. 25, 2019), available at https://www.ft.com/content/f73b3906-6781-11e9-9adc- 98bf1d35a056; Julia Kollewe and Simon Goodley, “Serious Fraud Office investigates Glencore over suspected bribery,” The Guardian (Dec. 5, 2019), available at https://www. theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/05/serious-fraud- office-investigates-glencore-over-suspected-bribery.

25. See, e.g., Kenneth Dickerman and Simone Francescangeli, “What life is like for the teenage miners of Potosi, Bolivia,” Washington Post (Sept. 14, 2018), available at https://www. washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2018/09/14/what- life-is-like-for-the-teenage-miners-of-potosi-bolivia/; Eniko Horvath and Amanda Romero Medina, “Indigenous people’s’ livelihoods at risk in scramble for lithium, the new white gold,” Ethical Corporation (April 9, 2019), available at http:// www.ethicalcorp.com/indigenous-peoples-livelihoods-risk- scramble-lithium-new-white-gold.

26. See, e.g., Laura Millan Lombrana, “Bolivia’s almost impossible lithium dream,” Blomberg (December 3, 2019), available at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-12-03/ bolivia-s-almost-impossible-lithium-dream.

27. For a recent survey of some of the most severe governance challenges associated with oil extraction, see Alexandra Gillies, Crude Intentions: How Oil Corruption Contaminates the World (2020).

28. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, State-owned enterprises and corruption: What are the risks and what can be done? (2018), p 28, available at https://www. oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/state-owned-enterprises-and- corruption_9789264303058-en.

29. See. e.g., USGS, Environmental Considerations Related to Mining of Nonfuel Minerals (2017), available at https:// pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/b/pp1802b.pdf; Earthworks and Oxfam America, Dirty Metals: Mining, Communities and the Environment (2004), available at https://earthworks. org/cms/assets/uploads/archive/files/publications/ NDG_DirtyMetalsReport_HR.pdf.

30. See, e.g., Amit Katwala, “The spiralling environmental cost of our lithium battery addiction,” Wired (August 5, 2018), available at https://www.wired.co.uk/article/ lithium-batteries-environment-impact.

31. See, e.g., Lena Mucha et al., “The hidden costs of cobalt mining,” Washington Post (February 28, 2018), available at https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2018/02/28/ the-cost-of-cobalt/.

 

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CENTER F OR LA W, ENERG Y & THE ENVIRONMENT | NA TURAL RE SOURCE GO VERNANCE INSTITUTE

32. See Max Opray, “Nickel Mining: the hidden environmental cost of electric cars,” The Guardian (August 24, 2017), available at https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/ aug/24/nickel-mining-hidden-environmental-cost-electric- cars-batteries.

33. See, e.g., California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), An Independent Scientific Assessment of Well Stimulation in California, Vol. II (July 2015), available at https://ccst.us/wp- content/uploads/160708-sb4-vol-II.pdf; Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH), Public Health and Safety Risks of Oil and Gas Facilities in Los Angeles County (February 2018), available at http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/ eh/docs/PH_OilGasFacilitiesPHSafetyRisks.pdf.

34. See, e.g., Los Angeles Times, “Chevron spills 800,000 gallons of oil and water in Kern County canyon” (July 12, 2019), available at https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me- california-oil-spill-20190712-story.html.

 

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