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conflict conundrum","europes-conflict-conundrum","article/europes-conflict-conundrum",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":763,"featured":50,"reporter":764,"_editable":768,"component":769,"seo_title":553,"categories":770,"visibility":777,"author_company":49,"featured_image":778,"seo_description":763,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":782,"formattedArticleDate":783},"435bcba3-6b62-44ae-a32b-6a8d5b2c3544","2015-06-30 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,582,591,602,609,622,631,640,649,660,671,676,681,692,699,718,731,740,749,758],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577,580],{"text":578,"type":579},"The EU will have to tread carefully when considering which minerals and","text",{"text":581,"type":579},"\ncountries to include in its upcoming conflict minerals legislation.",{"type":574,"attrs":583,"content":584},{"textAlign":49},[585,587,589],{"text":586,"type":579},"Many of these industries are niche and inflexible meaning any swift",{"text":588,"type":579},"\nand significant change will likely have a negative impact on the EU and",{"text":590,"type":579},"\non the source country that the legislation is designed to clean up.",{"type":574,"attrs":592,"content":593},{"textAlign":49},[594,596,598,600],{"text":595,"type":579},"For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo relies heavily on",{"text":597,"type":579},"\nincome from mining copper, tin, tantalum and cobalt. Not all raw",{"text":599,"type":579},"\nmaterials exported from the Congo, or central Africa for that matter, are",{"text":601,"type":579},"\nassociated with armed rebel groups.",{"type":574,"attrs":603,"content":604},{"textAlign":49},[605,607],{"text":606,"type":579},"European lawmakers have to be careful not to discriminate against",{"text":608,"type":579},"\nthese legitimate sources.",{"type":574,"attrs":610,"content":611},{"textAlign":49},[612,614,616,618,620],{"text":613,"type":579},"Before enacting the legislation, they should look at each mineral",{"text":615,"type":579},"\nindustry individually and the role played by the country under “",{"text":617,"type":579},"\nscrutiny. For example, 55% of cobalt concentrate comes from the Congo,",{"text":619,"type":579},"\nwhile 60% of flake graphite and 85% of rare earth elements are from",{"text":621,"type":579},"\nChina.",{"type":574,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625,627,629],{"text":626,"type":579},"All are key ingredients in the technologies we use on a daily basis, yet",{"text":628,"type":579},"\nthere are no major replacements for supply from these areas in the short",{"text":630,"type":579},"\nterm.",{"type":574,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634,636,638],{"text":635,"type":579},"Adding the “conflict” label to either minerals or countries could badly",{"text":637,"type":579},"\ndisrupt these small industries, causing supply shortages, price spikes",{"text":639,"type":579},"\nand ultimately having a negative impact on western end users.",{"type":574,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643,645,647],{"text":644,"type":579},"There is also a huge risk of developing a toxic reputation for countries",{"text":646,"type":579},"\nlike the Congo, destroying their main source of revenue, and making the",{"text":648,"type":579},"\nconflict much worse.",{"type":574,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652,654,656,658],{"text":653,"type":579},"These central African mining areas are vast and fragmented: hundreds",{"text":655,"type":579},"\nof mines operate to feed raw material concentrate to the country’s",{"text":657,"type":579},"\nsmelters, which produce metal for export. Local economies and workers",{"text":659,"type":579},"\nrely on this as their only source of income.",{"type":574,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663,665,667,669],{"text":664,"type":579},"Western legislation will have to be crafted to ensure “conflict free”",{"text":666,"type":579},"\ndoes not turn into “Congo free”. The goal should be to disrupt the cause",{"text":668,"type":579},"\nof the conflict and not the legitimate local producers and end users of",{"text":670,"type":579},"\nthese minerals.",{"type":574,"attrs":672,"content":673},{"textAlign":49},[674],{"text":675,"type":579},"But it is a fine line.",{"type":574,"attrs":677,"content":678},{"textAlign":49},[679],{"text":680,"type":579},"Changing how we do business, not where… ",{"type":574,"attrs":682,"content":683},{"textAlign":49},[684,686,688,690],{"text":685,"type":579},"According to an open letter from 70 academics and experts, the",{"text":687,"type":579},"\ngood that the landmark Dodd Frank legislation from the US intended,",{"text":689,"type":579},"\nin reality it turned into a “de facto embargo” on raw materials from the",{"text":691,"type":579},"\nCongo.",{"type":574,"attrs":693,"content":694},{"textAlign":49},[695,697],{"text":696,"type":579},"One positive of Dodd Frank is that it has forced major companies",{"text":698,"type":579},"\nto disclose the sources of their raw materials. Apple Inc, for example, has created a Supplier Responsibility page on its website, a major step towards supply chain transparency. Apple even declared (in typical Apple fashion): “We hope our transparency inspires others to do the same.”",{"type":574,"attrs":700,"content":701},{"textAlign":49},[702,704,706,708,710,712,714,716],{"text":703,"type":579},"It is just the start, however, and major challenges still remain.",{"text":705,"type":579},"\n“The best [the US conflict minerals act] has done so far is to cause",{"text":707,"type":579},"\nsome slight anxiety from mostly electronics majors who worry about",{"text":709,"type":579},"\nbeing named and shamed by the fact they have been receiving and",{"text":711,"type":579},"\nusing conflict minerals since 1994,” Chris Grove, President of Commerce",{"text":713,"type":579},"\nResources Corp explained to ",{"text":715,"type":579},"Benchmark",{"text":717,"type":579},".",{"type":574,"attrs":719,"content":720},{"textAlign":49},[721,723,725,727,729],{"text":722,"type":579},"“The situation has improved somewhat since the Dodd Frank was",{"text":724,"type":579},"\nmade law, it has been reported – especially by NGOs such as The",{"text":726,"type":579},"\nEnough Project – and this is something I hope is true. However, I don’t",{"text":728,"type":579},"\nthink anyone believes that enough has yet been accomplished,” Grove",{"text":730,"type":579},"\nadded.",{"type":574,"attrs":732,"content":733},{"textAlign":49},[734,736,738],{"text":735,"type":579},"Political and economic complexities aside, the fact that both the US",{"text":737,"type":579},"\nand the EU are now taking an active stance against conflict minerals",{"text":739,"type":579},"\nmeans that ethical sourcing is just starting.",{"type":574,"attrs":741,"content":742},{"textAlign":49},[743,745,747],{"text":744,"type":579},"It is now down to the politicians to strike the balance between",{"text":746,"type":579},"\nregulation and business so not to fundamentally damage these conflict-torn,",{"text":748,"type":579},"\ndeveloping countries to a state of complete disorder.",{"type":574,"attrs":750,"content":751},{"textAlign":49},[752,754,756],{"text":753,"type":579},"As Michael Gibb from Global Witness succinctly puts it: “It is not about",{"text":755,"type":579},"\nchanging where we do business but about changing the way we do",{"text":757,"type":579},"\nbusiness.”",{"type":574,"attrs":759,"content":760},{"textAlign":49},[761],{"text":762,"type":579},"The era of supply chain transparency has begun.","The EU will have to tread carefully when considering which minerals and countries to include in its upcoming conflict minerals legislation. Many of these industries are niche and inflexible meaning any swift and significant change will likely have a negative impact on the EU and on the source country that the legislation is designed to […]",[765],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":766},{"job_title":565,"image":767,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"435bcba3-6b62-44ae-a32b-6a8d5b2c3544\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[771,774],{"slug":772,"name":773},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":775,"name":776},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":779,"name":779,"focus":779,"title":779,"source":779,"filename":779,"copyright":779,"fieldtype":780,"meta_data":781,"is_external_url":50},"","asset",{"alt":779,"title":779,"source":779,"copyright":779},"Jun 30, 2015","30th June 2015",[],[],1790082855396]