Lead The Charge

Great news for automakers looking to source #greensteel! Not only is the HYBRIT initiative the first project in the world to demonstrate that fossil-free steel can be produced on a semi-industrial scale - they’re also producing a higher quality product with their fossil-free process. Consumers such as Volvo Group are already benefiting!

Contractors at a @Hyundai plant in Georgia are suing in US federal court over allegations of wage theft, adding to the growing perception of Hyundai as a bad actor in the US labor market. This company needs to step up its game on ensuring that their suppliers act in compliance with local labor laws, or it risks falling behind in our annual ranking of automakers and their supply chain practices.

Will you be at #ClimateWeek? Don’t miss these critical events on energy transition, deforestation and Indigenous rights. Join Lead The Charge, EARTHWORKS, SIRGE Coalition Climate Rights International and SOMO on Wednesday, September 25 at 2 pm EST for a discussion of the human and environmental costs of mining for EVs. New research shows that we can achieve a fully circular battery economy - meaning no new mining for battery minerals - by 2050. Learn more about why we must invest in battery recycling and raise standards for mining to achieve a just transition to clean energy. Rainforest Foundation Norway will be hosting three key events at Climate Week: -Local Action, Global Impact: Governing and Financing Models for a Nature Positive Economy led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities  -Investing in the Future: Addressing Nature and Deforestation Risks -Social Integrity within Voluntary Carbon Markets: Challenges and Opportunities for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Links to register for all of the above events will be in the comments below!

New research from Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reveals that emissions from the Ternium Brasil S.A. steel plant have led to: -1,200 deaths -1100 children suffering from asthma -60 preterm births -120,000 days of work absences -Economic costs in the range of USD 1.8 billion We can’t afford the high cost of coal-based steel production anymore. #Greensteel is becoming more affordable every day, and comes without the dangerous and expensive air pollution impacts of coal-based steel production.

Oakland, CA is proving that electric vehicles can play a crucial role in building a more stable clean energy grid. A fleet of electric school buses will serve as a mini power station, collecting energy during low-demand periods and feeding it back into the grid in high-demand periods like the early evening. 

Today Public Citizen sent a letter to ICMM CEO Rohitesh Dhawan, The Copper Mark director Michèle Brülhart Banyiyezako, World Gold Council CEO David Tait and Mining Association of Canada CEO Pierre Gratton, calling out the mining industry’s latest greenwashing attempt. People and the environment suffer when mining companies are allowed to self-regulate with weak voluntary standards that offer a rubber stamp to business as usual. Learn more at → https://lnkd.in/gzE4MTRn

ArcelorMittal describes themselves as "the world’s leading supplier of steel to the auto sector.” Analysis from SteelWatch shows that the company’s plant exposed local communities to dangerous air pollutants in Kazakhstan, contributing to the death of an estimated 3,000 people and leading to USD 4.2 billion in health damages. Any automakers being supplied by ArcelorMittal should be wary of the reputational risk that comes along with climate-disrupting, air-polluting coal-based steel making. https://lnkd.in/gVe9QUgp

California is on the verge of passing a bill to require EV battery makers to create a completely circular economy for EV batteries in the state. Similar legislation has been enacted in the EU and in New Jersey, and we expect to see other states and nations follow suit. New research from RMI and EARTHWORKS shows we can achieve net-zero battery mineral demand in the 2040s - meaning no new mining for batteries at all. Bills on battery circularity like these will help us get there by utilizing regulatory power to push development of the recycling infrastructure needed to recover every useful mineral possible from used EV batteries. But - these bills must include provisions to ensure that the jobs created by new recycling mandates are good union jobs.

Automakers face significant reputational risk from air pollution impacts in their supply chains. Organizers are calling out General Motors and POSCO for their air pollution from Detroit in the US to Gwangyang in South Korea.

Electric vehicle and battery manufacturing is poised to bring economic growth and community benefit to towns and cities across the US South. A just transition to clean energy has huge benefits for workers and communities. https://lnkd.in/gTdyEUTu