This, to me, is one of the biggest fallacies of tech companies claiming they care about sustainability goals. No matter the application, most of our hardware is made with materials that come from central Africa. Those mines and facilities are largely controlled by China. Whatever you think of China politically, you have to recognize that many of the sustainability disclosures that, say, Apple is making are premised on these mines self-reporting compliance with certain standards. In practice, miners are using outdated, poorly maintained equipment. Commonly, they’re using shovels and even their hands.

You can write all the cutesy reports you want with stock photos of green leaves, hands holding soil, and smiling “farmers.” Unless and until you’re directly funding better means of extracting raw materials like cobalt from the ground, companies’ claims about their commitment to ESG should be completely dismissed as nonsense.

Some sources:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-24/cobalt-mining-in-the-congo-green-energy/100802588

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/drc-cobalt-and-copper-mining-for-batteries-leading-to-human-rights-abuses/