Publication Without responsibility and transparency

Human rights risks along the nickel supply chain

Information

Arbeiter auf dem Weg durch einen mit Nickelrückständen belasteten Fluss
Workers on the way through a river loaded with nickel residues Foto: Michael Reckordt

Being one of the biggest export nations, Germany is strongly dependent on raw material imports. Nearly one hundred percent of the metallic primary raw materials are imported from abroad and processed by the German industry. The German raw material requirement has strongly increased over the past decades and according to the forecasts, it will continue to increase in the next few years. There are always discussions of human rights violations in connection with mining. This applies equally to all raw materials: the raw materials sector is a risk sector.

Published by philippinenbüro and PowerShift, financially supported by Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung.

Authors:

  • Dr. Melanie Müller is a political scientist and researches on the environmental and raw materials policy in the region of sub-Saharan Africa and on supply chain responsibility. She worked as a research assistant at the Free University of Berlin from August 2015 until December 2016. Since 2017, she has been working as a scientist withthe focus on sub-Saharan Africa at the foundation Wissenschaft und Politik.
  • Michael Reckordt coordinates the nationwide network AK Rohstoffe and works at Powershift on the German raw materials policy.