Clean cars, dirty batteries

2021-08-03

LUBUMBASHI, KOLWEZI, BERLIN - To make the batteries for electric cars, manufacturers need cobalt. This documentary shows the efforts of the European car industry to ensure proper supply chains, and documents in the cobalt mines in the Congo that this is impossible.

Whoever buys an electric car wants an automobile that has the least possible impact on the environment. But to make the batteries for electric cars, manufacturers need cobalt. This coveted raw material is mined under conditions of human suffering.

The 45 minute long documentary "Clean cars, dirty batteries - cobalt mining in the Congo" aired on the German public TV channel ZDFinfo. It shows the efforts of the European car industry to ensure proper supply chains, and documents in the cobalt mines in the Congo that this is impossible.

Team members

Carina Körner

Carina Körner is an investigative journalist from Germany.

Eric Mwamba

Eric Mwamba is a Congolese investigative journalist and founder of Grand Journal, a weekly investigative paper in Kinshasa.

Vanessa Schlesier

Vanessa Schlesier is a freelance TV-journalist based in Berlin.

Lukas Augustin

Lukas Augustin is a filmmaker and journalist based in Berlin, Germany.

Supported

A grant of €8,000 was awarded on 14/12/2018

MT/2018/043

Grant

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