Cobalt mining in Congo: Put public health before profit!
Polished to perfection: electric cars from BMW, Mercedes, and VW. Devastated: mining regions where their raw materials are extracted. Poisoned: families living near the mines. In the Congo, people suffer from cobalt mining for these cars. We demand that corporations stop using raw materials that destroy forests and people’s health.
To: the senior management of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Stellantis
“Cobalt mining to meet demand for EVs has damaged the environment, harmed public health, and forced people from their homes. Automakers must take responsibility.”The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is by far the world’s largest cobalt producer, with more than 70 percent of the market. Without Congo’s cobalt, high-tech industries and the energy transition would stall. Auto manufacturers such as VW, BMW, and Mercedes rely on it.
But the rush for cobalt, coltan, rare earths, gold, and bauxite has devastating consequences: Forests are cleared, landscapes plowed up, mountains levelled, rivers diverted, and air, water, and soil polluted. Working conditions are often dire, and exploitation is widespread.
In eastern DRC, exploitation also fuels violence. In North and South Kivu, hundreds of thousands are fleeing and thousands dying.
People in southern Congo’s “copper belt” are bearing the brunt. According to the study Toxic Transition by Environmental Investigation Agency US (EIA) and PremiCongo, the Tenke Fungurume (TFM) mine and processing plant “30k” (4) emit sulfur dioxide (SO2) far above safe or legal levels. Communities, especially children and women, suffer serious health problems, including vomiting blood, life-threatening respiratory infections, and stillbirths, while more than 10,000 people have lost their homes as the mine expands.
EIA and PremiCongo hold Chinese CMOC Group Ltd (CMOC) – owner and operator of the Tenke Fungurume mine – responsible.
CMOC’s cobalt is used by BMW, Mercedes, and Volkswagen for electric vehicles.
EIA and PremiCongo presented the study to the companies named in it. The full statements from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and TFM are available on the EIA website.
Car companies should not turn a blind eye when their demand for raw materials causes harm. Please call on them to clean up their supply chains and stop purchasing cobalt from TFM until the pollution is resolved.
EIA’s findings indicate that the source of the public health crisis affecting Fungurume since 2023 is likely TFM’s release of sulfur dioxide, or SO2, at levels that far exceed international standards.
Peak SO2 concentrations are widely known to cause health impacts consistent with what residents have described and documented, including nosebleeds, coughing up blood, and serious respiratory illness. The provisions in DRC law that state citizens have the right to a healthy environment and the right to breathe air that is not harmful are seemingly not being met. EIA’s investigation reveals that multiple automakers, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot and Volkswagen, have apparently indirectly sourced cobalt from TFM for use in EVs, the rapid expansion of which has caused a series of public health, social and environmental crises in DRC.
In this context, EIA recommends:
To the DRC government:
- Investigate the alleged violation of Congolese laws and regulations related to citizens’ health, environmental pollution, and relocation.
- With the support of multilateral organizations, make the multifaceted environmental and public health crisis caused by copper-cobalt mining in Haut Katanga and Lualaba provinces a national policy priority, and implement interministerial programs to remediate, control, and prevent it.
- Establish a world-leading, government-mandated and civil society-led independent monitoring program for the mining sector, building on lessons learned from a decade of independent forest monitoring, to be piloted in Lualaba province.
To CMOC:
- Immediately establish a transparent and multipartite process of reparation for the alleged harm being done to dozens of residents and workers due to SO2 pollution.
- Suspend TFM’s “30k plant” operation until any needed preventive SO2 neutralization systems are in place, adapted continuous emissions monitoring is operating, and a qualified independent third party can reliably guarantee that SO2 emissions respect DRC laws on environmental rights and international standards.
- Proactively disclose TFM’s SO2 monitoring data through a publicly accessible platform, including daily measurements from on-site monitoring systems.
To CMOC’s clients:
- Immediately inform CMOC that, as of May 1st 2026, cobalt hydroxide purchase will be conditional on the guarantee by a qualified independent third party that TFM’s SO2 emissions respect DRC laws on environmental rights and international standards.
To BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Volkswagen:
- Do not purchase cobalt-containing products that risk being indirectly sourced from TFM until solid evidence shows that the 30k plant’s emissions respect DRC laws and international standards.
- Support a regional community- and civil society-led SO2 monitoring program that would allow residents near copper-cobalt mines to collect science-backed information about air quality and make it publicly available.
- Establish the “new normal” regarding energy transition supply chain transparency by publicly disclosing all available information regarding cobalt sourcing up to the mine of origin.
- Join a multi-stakeholder body to accompany the IRMA auditing process at TFM, alongside representatives from local communities and civil society organizations, provincial and federal government, and international non-governmental organizations.
To: the senior management of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Stellantis
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Phasing out gasoline and diesel is essential to protect the global climate. Electric mobility will be part of that shift. But the path to decarbonization must not become a “toxic transition.”
There is a reason the environmental organizations Environmental Investigation Agency US (EIA) and PremiCongo gave their alarming new study on one of your suppliers that title. According to the study, the Tenke Fungurume Mine and the “30k” cobalt processing plant are polluting the air with sulfur dioxide at levels beyond what is safe or legal.
According to the report, unchecked sulfur dioxide pollution from “30k” is driving this public health crisis.
Since “30k” opened, nearby communities – especially women and children – have suffered severe health problems. According to the study, symptoms include nosebleeds, persistent coughing, and vomiting blood. Miscarriages and birth defects have reportedly increased. More than 10,000 people have lost their homes because of the expansion of mining activities and pollution at the site – and many say the relocation was carried out illegally and has left them worse off.
EIA and PremiCongo have published their findings. You are therefore aware of the dire situation on the ground.
The Tenke Fungurume Mine is not an isolated case. The mining of cobalt, copper, coltan, rare earth elements, gold, and bauxite is often linked to environmental destruction, precarious working conditions, violence, and serious health risks.
Automakers must not look the other way when demand for raw materials causes this kind of harm. We therefore call on you to clean up all of your company’s supply chains and to stop sourcing cobalt from TFM until the pollution issue has been conclusively resolved.
Sincerely,
The study covers the period since the processing plant opened in 2023. EIA obtained, reviewed, and analyzed more than 1,200 anonymized medical records from a clinic near the 30k plant. The organization also commissioned an independent analysis of air quality and spoke with workers and business insiders.
Symptoms described in the study include nosebleeds, chronic coughing, vomiting blood, and life-threatening respiratory infections. The number of miscarriages and birth defects has increased.
The phaseout of combustion-engine vehicles must happen. But replacing them one-to-one with electric vehicles would have devastating consequences for both people and the environment. What we need is a real shift in transport – not just a switch in drive technology.