"Until the political leaders take full control... we are still going to be seeing this injustice meted out on the ordinary people," Ocamringa remarks, emphasising the long road ahead despite these commendable community efforts.
Thousands of families have been displaced to make way for mining operations, leading to environmental degradation as forests are cleared.
According to a July 19 article by Djaffar Al Kantanty on Reuters, armed groups are profiting from the production and trade of wooden planks in North Kivu. Illegal and uncontrolled logging has resulted in the destruction of significant swaths of virgin forest in the protected areas of Virunga.
Reportedly, the extraction process raises concerns about unethical practices. Workers endure overwork, and underpayment, and suffer from various human rights violations, including physical and sexual abuse, arson, and forced displacement according to a report by Amnesty International.
Some international mining companies have also been blamed for forced child labour and exposing local communities to the deadly effects of environmental pollution.
Despite reforms introduced in the DRC's mining code in 2017 aimed at penalising child labour, the grim reality persists, with over 40,000 child miners continuing to toil illegally in perilous conditions. These children are often employed as washers and diggers, engaged in the extraction of coltan.
According to data from the Global Forest Watch website, the DRC has witnessed a staggering loss of 8.6 per cent of its tree cover since the year 2000, with mining activities, particularly coltan extraction, identified as a primary driver of deforestation. Significant historical sites such as the Kahuzi Biega National Park, Rutshuru and Nyiragongo are under serious threat of deforestation.
Lack of state control on mining sites allows artisanal miners to flout regulations, causing environmental harm. The manual mineral separation process uses chemicals that contaminate water bodies and generate harmful radioactive substances.
Moreover, it is well-documented that women bear the brunt of this pollution, as it frequently targets reproductive systems and influences the composition of breast milk, thus impacting the health outcomes of future generations.
Human rights advocate Isaac Kavalami stresses the need for stronger political leadership to protect workers in mineral extraction for EV batteries.
He advocates for traceability of minerals, local processing, and selling only finished products internationally to create jobs. "To ensure local communities benefit, companies must set up operations in Congo," says Kavalami.
The exploitation of coltan mines by both associated businesses and local and global governments in the DRC has resulted in egregious human rights violations, continuing a vicious cycle of poverty and violence. Despite being a mandatory requirement under mining laws, coltan mining companies seldom provide
A November 2023 update from the Centre for Preventative Action reported rising violence, with high civilian casualties and displacement due to territorial conflicts, extrajudicial killings, political violence, and tensions with neighbouring countries.
Nearly seven million people are now internally displaced due to ongoing violence, extreme poverty, and expanding mining activities. Many multinational corporations are vying for a slice of DRC's rare minerals. For instance, the Congolese army is frequently deployed to mining sites in eastern DRC to protect Chinese assets.
This reflects China's dominance in the global cobalt market, a situation that originated from a 2009 deal with the Congolese government. Chinese companies not only control the mining concessions but also dominate the entire supply chain up to the battery level.
This extensive control raises concerns about the ethical and environmental standards applied throughout the production process. Dr Andrew Wambua of Africa Voices Dialogue, while acknowledging the role of electric vehicles, stresses the need for a more comprehensive approach.
He advocates for adopting various renewable energy solutions such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower. "Transitioning to these clean energy sources is crucial for moving away from fossil fuels and mitigating the impacts of global warming," he says
According to California YIMBY, an American pro-real estate movement, the world needs to stop embracing electric vehicles as an alternative the dirty fossil energy.
"The mining of lithium, cobalt and nickel requires a huge amount of water and can produce toxic waste," says one of its reports.
"Fossil fuels are used in the manufacturing process to heat the raw minerals to very high temperatures. As a result, building an EV can produce 80 per cent more emissions than building a comparable gas-powered car."
Biggest emitters
Indeed, production of the EV batteries in China is powered by coal energy, making it one of the biggest emitters besides Russia, the United States, India and Japan. Despite Africa's relatively small share of global greenhouse gas emissions, he believes that integrating clean energy solutions is essential for improving our climate outlook by 2030.
Prof Peter Kagwanja, a historian, highlights that the issues in Congo are part of a long-standing problem rather than a recent one. He explains that Congo's richness in minerals makes it cheaper and more cost-effective for foreign entities to exploit the region by maintaining chaos.
"If you are a Westerner, a French, Belgian, American, British, Dutch, or Chinese, you get access to these minerals at a cheaper price without having to pay taxes to a government," says Prof Kagwanja.
The Prof explains that the genocide in Rwanda was linked to the scramble for resources in Congo because many Rwandans, including Hutus involved in the genocide, took refuge in eastern Congo.
Efforts to reach any government official in Congo or even a Chinese representative in the mining companies were futile by the time of publishing.