Justice versus conscience

Such an interesting documentary that exposes the hidden side of green technology. A powerful reminder that sustainability is more than the environment, it’s about considering people’s health and livelihoods

This is why I use everything until exhaustion. We like shaming people for not buying anything, but it should really be the opposite.

I come from the mining region of Chile, and I can relate completely with that. From the foreign companies having most of the profit while the country itself gets a minor cut, to the dust covering everything. In our place birth defects are not really the issue, but cancer is rampant, I forgot the exact statistic, but it is WAY higher than the rest of the country. We all also have high arsenic concentration in blood. It really made me angry watch this. Hopefully things get better, but tbh I don’t trust industrialized countries.

This is an absolute eye opener. I never thought there was an other side to sustainability. Definitely informative.

I work in a lot of these places in Africa and have been trying to tell friends and family for years, but it falls on deaf ears. You should see the mountains of used car batteries and fridges and freezers being left to leach into the ground in Lagos Nigeria, also the used Tyre mountains. All exported their from the West. Renewable’s are are Western Luxury market, nothing more. Just think about the carbon footprint and where the expensive minerals came from the next time your driving your Tesla around. I have also worked in the Congo as mentioned in this documentary, you have never seen such misery, all to pander to our self indulgent fetish. Greta needs to go take a look.

Their story needs more exposure, we need to take this issue seriously

I can’t believe I haven’t stumbled upon this channel until today. This is exactly the content I love (and at the same time hate) to see. The stuff no media (almost) will show you.

This is so heartbreaking to watch, especially as an east African. We really got sold in the 90’s, on electric cars being the be all end all, but in actual fact, their production causes environmental devastation – pollution, soil erosion and desertification, and that’s even without mentioning the health risks to local people and the rampant exploitation of both adults and children. We need to go back to the drawing board. This aint it.

This is something all these people that say “we need to go green” need to see!! This is sad, there is a cost to everything in life!!

I’m mildly claustrophobic and I can’t imagine descending down into those holes and working endless hours. I have total respect for those men.

I loved this video and the information shared. Many persons just see one side and not the other. Going “green” means death somewhere else. The world is so unjust, someone always has to pay the price.

Incredible documentary, thank you for educating me on the other side of green energy. This is truly sad and needs to be changed.

Seeing that little boy with twisted legs just sitting on the ground outside while other kids just ignored him really made me sad. Humans are social creatures. We need social contact… idk how the other kids and adults don’t view him as a living being with feelings. Just made me really sad to see that.

“Can a sustainable green revolution be built without the exploitation of others?” An excellent question that the western world doesn’t want you to ask.

This documentary should have a special screening in COP conference.

These young miners are so well behaved for the condition under which they live in. It really is all about attitude. Hope they get the resources they rightly deserve.

I am beyond pissed off. Africa could be one of the richest places in the world. But bad leadership and a corrupt government can hold you back.

The fact that we know this problem will not be solved any time sooner makes it more depressing…

As long as it’s not their country that paid the consequences, they will happily turn a blind eye

I’m a marine engineer. I learned in school that there is almost nothing called “green” energy. Here in the West people will buy a Tesla and think themself the saviour of this green earth, while their car runs on energy produced by coal or other forms of petroleum. Their batteries, produced by cobalt, shipped twice across the world to reduce costs. If I had the chance, I would create a program. Through careful mathematics and calculations, it would help analyze carbon emissions, for example a trailer going from X to Y, with most of its variables. With the help of the UN make it mandatory to drastically reduce carbon emissions. Including this, because every inch of dirt excavated to mine these materials pump more CO2 than your car will produce in a year.

“The price of progress is high” an old song says. It seems for centuries that people in this part of the world have been paying the bill. Blessings to the doctors etc who are tying to help.

Tech giants need to be held accountable for the exploitation of other people, from a livelihood and health perspective. And we, the consumers, need to be willing and ready to boycott non-ethical companies, and also not to demand the latest and newest.

Thank you. The world needs to see the truth about these abominations, atrocities, crimes against humanity, hidden behind the lies of the rulers of this world. Power to the people, down with the evil ones perpetrating these acts.

This is heartbreaking, and it also makes me very angry. If the companies are making millions out of their misery which also directly impacts their families, the very least they can do is ensure the health and safety of their workers and help in country’s economical development. Selfish bastards!

This is heartbreaking. There’s nothing worse than a corrupt government.

My heart bleeds. I have been promoting green computing ideas and never thought of damages it was causing to my Congolese brothers and sisters.

One of the best things an individual can do, is consume less. Grow your own food. Raise your own animals for meat. Have days were you either limit or use no electricity. Walk or ride a bike. Also, don’t support politicians that are pushing for all green energy without anyway to sustain it and when it is also harmful to humans and the environment.

All the people who are pushing for all these advancements need to watch these kind of documentaries to understand there’s more to every problem then just the things we were told about. Someday people are going to understand the governments and corporations operate for their own benefit not the benefit of people. This is so sad that these people have to live like this.

There’s always heavy toxicity around mineral extraction areas. Even in Canada, there’s huge pollution and people close by pay the price. I wish these folks long life and good health. May the God look after them

So the moral of this documentary is “someone is dying for your fashionable living whom you don’t know”.

My heart cries out for my Africa , the saddest part is that as long as some profits from this they will always be consequences on the most vulnerable. When you change your iphone every year, think about this, tv’s, cars, are all made from these exploitation.

I wish I could help those people some way this is heartbreaking and they deserve better. We have to demand better

Wow. You just blew my mind. It’s such a shame that these big companies providing from rare earth metals aren’t ensuring the health and safety of the people who make their industry possible. As an end consumer of so many products using these materials, I’m pretty disgusted…

Going green will always have a cost: especially if it requires making something to replace something else. There is a manufacturing cost as well as the disposal cost of whatever is being replaced. It is virtually impossible to do, or make, something without a ‘cost’: and when it is being done on a global scale – there will be an equally global-sized cost: to the people, to the environment, to the ecology. Basic principles are in play here.

I’ve been looking into this, there are some companies that mine safely. I think the issue is that many companies just don’t want to pay for it. It’s disgusting. This would never happen in the UK but these people dot have the choice.

This is beyond saddening. This is as unethical as it gets. There are better ways to source the Cobalt, far away from villages and farms. It’s sickening to know that these poor people have no control over what is happening around their villages and the children are the ones suffering the most.

Up until grinding this documentary I was completely ignorant to the plight of these poor people! This needs to be brought to the attention of the whole world! Those poor little babies…heart breaking.

damn cant believe Africa has the richest resources in the world, almost every material in the modern age comes out of Africa. The people of Africa should be among the richest in the world

It is more than clear, at this point, that the only way to “go green” without exploitation is to undo urbanization and industrialization.

This is HEARTBREAKING! Poor little kid. And the Dad just abandoned them..

I couldn’t imagine living in such a dry and arid situation, next to a beautiful river that you can’t step foot in, or eat from. That would be eternally frustrating.

Such documentaries should be all over the news!!

This is so painful .. and the billionaires are flying to Mars when they can’t even take care of their fellow humans

Thank you. More need to see this and realise that every advancement in technology is a huge step backwards for local people’s health, and for the environment. The green revolution is window dressing for 1st World countries to make them feel like they have done something wonderful, meanwhile life on the frontline is far worse.

I really feel bad about Africa it’s such so rich in its diversity with so many different mines ,unique species of wildlife & serenes…. I Believe Africa deserve more than just a Penny of Monies from this corrupt Government & Other Countries invading their properties, just in the name of development to this people…. I Hope to see the change their…

My opinion is that going green should be supported what would be more helpful would be regulating the sectors such as mining more eg: use of ppe’s, pay miners more so they afford a healthier life, use more tech in mining, governments moving people to areas that they are not more predisposed to the sicknesses, empowering same communities from the mining money found etc

This breaks my heart not just for the people but the earth why can’t we get our shit together?!

don’t get fooled, this is not about going green but about corps exploiting africa and not caring about their supply chain…this happens across the industries and should be regulated

So insightful! And so sad, it makes you realise how blessed we are to live the lives we do in the West. Right after this docu, a docu played about the happiest countries in the world. What makes them happy, is living a life if balance. Without greed this world would be a better place!

This is heartbreaking. The most helpless feeling in the world as a parent is not being able to help your child when there’s something wrong, I can’t even begin to Imagine how agonising it must be to know that there’s nothing you can do no matter how hard you try.

So much for going green and protecting the earth for the climate change agenda. This doesn’t in any way look like addressing sustainable goals but bringing back slavery, exploitation etc.

Great documentary, we need more of this!

My prayers go out to the families suffering from the greed of other countries, I am ashamed and appalled, this makes me want to do something but I don’t necessarily know what.

So heartbreaking I was in tears watching. Those poor little babies! I’m Navajo and we’re dealing w uranium and coal mining pollution, too. It’s so destructive! Another factor is planned obsolescence, meaning manufacturers purposefully make items that fall apart so we have to buy again. This smart phone I’m on was cheap but designed to get squirrelly after a while. Even the more expensive gadgets are that way. We could lean on manufacturers to make better quality products that are sourced more responsibly and help people get loans or whatever so they’re more accessible. And encourage folks to go the sleep and get up w the sun, have more public transportation, etc. There’s solutions, but capitalism needs to be checked. My prayers to all of these children, families, farmers, and water ways. Thank you for this in depth reporting.

The problem isn’t green tech the problem is extracting resources paying as little as possible. We need these minerals and could make a clean future if these companies were forced to extract responsibly and actually pay for the labor

Thanks to these brave journalist doing their job that we know what is happening around the world thank you for this great documentary.

Whaoo I was so naive to going green. Thank you for this educative report. May God protect the affected children and parents. Again the west gains from Africa’s pain.

These mining companies should be held accountable and made to clean up these rivers. Disgusting that the govt isn’t thinking beyond the money. It will be too late once there is no food or water left to sustain life

This is a shame that these people are being taken advantage of for their resources. Their government should be taken care of them there of them the people who worked the hardest job should have all the safety equipment. It seems like everything ran by democratic government seems to be ran very poorly.

This also happens in Colombia with gold mines. But the problem here is that illegal and traditional miners use mercury to find the gold easily, but a larger part of that mercury goes to the rivers. But here, people says that the problem are the legal mines (which are not ultra regulated, but at least have to respond and repair environmental damage). People do not know that who are doing the damage are free and powerful.

Thanks for the documentary! It’s important that people in “the western” countries see what price other people pay for their comfortable life.

EVERYONE needs to share this. This should be common knowledge!

It’s going to be very difficult to both “go green” and make sure all your materials to do so are “ethically sourced” Because despotic nations will happily sell you the items you need to go green in order to keep themselves in power All the while you hand them an environmental award for helping you achieve your initiative

“Doing something is better than doing nothing!” No… Not if it kills thousands of people on the other side of the world. Doing “something” for the sake of “doing anything at all” (which in 99.99% of the time equals into consuming more product anyway) is not worth the life and health of those people.

This is exactly why I’ve been so resistant to changing phones so frequently and even more so to getting a electric car. I keep everything until it no longer works beyond repair.

Volkswagen group – which came second in terms of EVs sold in 2020 at about 420,000 units – was the biggest user of cobalt in 2020, consuming nearly 3,000 tonnes of cobalt for new electric cars made by its VW, Audi, Porsche, and SEAT brands.

Finally, someone has the balls to talk about this

I feel so sad for these parents and families. Every life is equally important, there needs to be a better system, a healthy safe way. It’s so sad 2021 and this is happening

This completely breaks my heart. We need to get this story out. Is there an organization we can donate to to help?

I was never going to buy an electric car anyway, and this just enforces my view. Nothing about batteries are good, they can barely even be recycled. They cost a fortune, take hours to recharge and barely last a reasonable amount of time. A well built looked after petrol engine will last 30 plus years EASY!

These mining companies and the DRC government need to be held accountable! Miners should form a union that everyone should support as they challenge the government who lets China do this with no repercussions. They need to hire and pay these local men what they deserve! None of these poor communities nearby should be subject to this! Please do a follow-up story on any activism regarding this in the DRC and question those in power.

The problem that the world faces right now is the lack of accountability for such injustice. The coming decades, we can hopefully shape the United Nations to become a body that will be automatically accountable to take actions against these things.

This why I’m concerned about the rise of battery ev’s. I can’t help but feel the environmental and social cost of the batteries will be as bad or worse than the initial co2 issue. But I guess so long as it’s not in our back yard that’s all that matters is the thinking.

When there’s mining there’s heavy pollution. Mining company and owners should be sued and charged for any bad causes of their mining to the community or atleast it must be in the agreement with the government to enforce it later for the safety and security of the people and the surroundings.

It’s like how they talk about the war on coal but it takes twice as much coal to make a pane for a solar panel because you have to fuse coal and quartz together with help from heating coal, and you can’t recycle the glass when it breaks just like you can’t recycle any of the parts of a wind turbine yet they still want to WASTE all of the available and potential resources and let people die in the process instead of going to uranium which is extremely reliable and clean and cheap

It’s almost impossible to do everything ethically but doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our best to prevent the suffering and exploitation of the natural world, nonhuman beings and fellow human beings.

I’m just gonna point out the issue is not the acquisition of resources itself it’s these places have basically no health and safety regulations and that allows for cheap aquisition. If they added in just basic regulations the cost increase would be minimal and the quality of life would greatly improve.

Someone should be liable 100% for these birth defects. This man said China has most of the control. Either way someone should step up and take responsibility for their actions!! These people should have proper access to health care. And should be completely free. Since the wage isnt good at all. This is definitely a human rights issue.!! No one should live like these wonderful & beautiful people. My heart goes out to them.

Share this with people!! Im not against improving efficiency of anything. Im a mechanic by trade and support fuel efficient vehicles. But not at this cost. Ive been saying it for years, milk your beater car for everything its worth. Buy used parts from salvage yards. Do NOT fall for the latest and greatest car, cell phone or tablet. Use the stuff you buy and fight for right to repair!!!!

I think we can get green sustainable products without exploitation if these mining companies have proper waste management systems and provide with proper mining equipments and there should be proper education letting people know about the hazardous effects living near mining areas. Just some thoughts dont know in reality it will be helpful or not .I just wondering what could be helpful.

My heart breaks for these people! May God protect them! This is evil! Greed from developed nations is killing these people and our planet!!!

This is barbaric. The foreign organizations profiting from this should be named boycotted so it’s more expensive to pollute rather than behave in a socially responsible way. Financial pressure is the only way to make them change since profit margins is all they care about. The people and environment in Africa matter too.

Sustainability and environmental health for all species needs to be built all along the entire supply chain – no excuses.

Wow it’s amazing how many people blame green energy for the issues here and not corporate greed, we could mine cobalt safely and give these people a good wage but we chose not to, has nothing to do with green energy as you could mine anything unsafely.

Here in Germany you now get a good amount of money back when you buy an electric car.. This documentary shows what a big problem that can be for other people. It might often be a lot better to just keep your old car for a long time than to buy the newest most economically friendly every 3 years!

The AU ( a toothless dog, unfortunately) should have an independent commission/ organ that will look into Africa’s resources and how they are benefiting local communities and states at large. At the same time, the same commission should be negotiating for mineral exploration and benefit agreements with the Chinese or any other foreign powers. It is sad that nothing is being done. The government of the Congo appears helpless

This is sickening that these poor people have to live like this especially in 2021, every corporation that does this must pay for the medical bills for each patient and they must find safer ways to mine. Earlier in the video it stated that almost all mines are owned by China, they are the worst in abuse of people and the earth. Make China pay! These people deserve better. God Bless them.

I would like to see a report on what happens to green energy products at the end of their life ( solar panels contain toxic ingredients and no disposal facilities have been created yet, wind turbines are made from fiberglass and are either left where they are or demolished and thrown into landfills.)

It’s not the price of going green, it’s the price of unregulated industries. People/journalists making these videos should be more mindful on what they say and how they represent the world. Global governments need to regulate all mining industries

yes building a sustainable future can be done without the exploitation of others the corporations and purchasers can value the miners more and realize how important they are, because they are providing a valued resource. give them more pay, have compassion for the work conditions by giving them ppe equipment, breather masks with filters, and some kind of oxygen mask or machine, equipment to help the miners go up and down the shaft easy.. instead of a shimmy down the tree that is lodged in the shaft. there is some basic improvements! the profit margin is huge from this point to the finished product sold in stores. this is greed at play here.

As someone living in an industrialized country, I often think about how people like these must hate my guts and despise me. I don’t want to harm them, but I end up doing it anyway by contributing to their problems because I’m too caught up in my own life and not looking out of my little world bubble. I want to say things like “and I’m trying to buy less things and think about what matters” to justify my life style but honestly, how much does that matter? I’m just trying to feel good about myself. I hope I can at least give something back via donations once I’m out of school with a job.

So happy to discover UW ! What amazing journalism , more and more people need to hear this !

These people need to be compensated immediately. This is a damned shame.

“The love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things” this is beyond saddening.

@unreportedworld lovely work. Would love to see you guys do a side by side comparison/investigative journalism style piece on how this compares of current exploitative industries.

Definitely the way forward if you want our children’s children’s children going around on horseback and communicating long distances with the latest iSmokesignal. Really glad this documentary popped up. Give it a bit of time and the natural resources required to build electronics like say… car batteries (which don’t last forever) Partially solving one problem and creating another one. Quite a long while ago I seen a documentary on how cobalt is being mined in Africa and all the corruption that comes with it. The MED countries don’t give a fuck if a child worker dies in a mine as long as they get the latest iPhone or some shit to profit from. It’s all I think every time I see an electric car on the road. Might as well be made from blood diamonds man.

Whatever we can do for that family let it be known most of us suck at many things but most of us care enough to try and help in every and any way! Thank you all for shat you do and thank you for your Service!

Every single one of them- the mothers and the babies alike- has traces of tears running down their cheeks. I know it seems insignificant but I wanted to point that out anyways. It kind of stuck to me for some reason…

Nuclear is where we need to be. I’ve said for a while that going “green” is not what’s best. Yes we should do a better job about our pollution but wind and solar are limited on capacity.

“Not in my back yard.” “Out of sight, Out of mind.” seems to be the attitude of “green” pushers.

It seems that the DRC is destined to suffer permanently from foreign exploitation. When I saw the man whose finger was cut off I shuddered because it reminded me of the atrocities committed by the Belgians. It is truly tragic that over a century after those atrocities the people of DRC are still suffering.

Developed countries should pass laws requiring that all cobalt products sold in their country be “ethically sourced”, which means the cobalt mine owners are forced to clean up and treat their mine waste and protect the safety of their mine workers, and companies selling cobalt products have to pay for regular safety inspections.

I’m obsessed with this channel, and i’ve gained more exprience aswell but since english is not my first language i would suggest the content owners to add some english captions to their stories so it will be more interesting and easy to understand the story thanks.

this breaks my heart please they’re working such a hard job and with many risk of getting injured even chances of death yet they got paid too little.. what a world we’re living in

This is so sad! These poor people! This needs to go viral so people see what going green really means! These companies that own the mines & the ones that buy the cobalt for unfair prices should be named & boycotted! (Like Nike using slave labor, that’s why I don’t buy their products!)

It is truly heartbreaking to see rich, verdant land being ravaged for heavy metals.

Such an interesting and sad documentary it is the first time I have known that these things are happening to others I’m living a good life in the cost of others having malfunctioned and disabled children babies which is sad I hope their problems get solved I hope the government actually do something to save the citizens in there

Thanks to the journalists of this channel for covering what is going on. Hopefully more people watch this video and see what’s really going on. Hopefully then things will change for the better. This is beyond heartbreaking

I remember reflecting how much unemployment; imported coal; suicides; people’s ruined villages; separated families; loss of national insurance payments from workers to the state; loss of income tax payments from unemployed miners to the state; closed working men’s clubs, and so forth, were necessary to close if not the open cast mines in the UK, but the deep one’s, to ‘improve’ people’s lives, in Yorkshire, the Welsh valleys, in Scotland, everywhere, in fact, here, and in Europe. They were still dangerous, dirty places, but with much better working conditions by the ’70’s, than at any time in their industry. Still, the truth of the matter cannot be hidden. And one of them is, after open cast mines have been exhausted, how much more attractive is the re-landscaped area left behind. Still, now we have our hybrid cars, the world’s such a cleaner place: which is meant to be understood as I’ve intended it to be.

would be awesome if we can develop a cheap and reliable means of recycling all of our garbage so the people in all of these nations can have an actual chance to build their nations, not mining toxic minerals by hand or burning our garbage to get scrap to sell so they can eat for the day

This is the land of my ancestors. I never been there, but I want to do something to help them. What’s happening in Congo must stop.

I’ve been saying this for years, while people just roll their eyes and beg to be impoverished in the name of climate science.

Seriously guys, this was painted on the walls. The second that “going green” became the new hottest thing for the rich to get richer, I knew nothing good could come from it.

This is incredibly unfair. Everyone needs to see it

Im not sure the problem is the demand for cobalt but rather I suspect it’s an issue with the local government. A Chinese mining company doesn’t care about Africa’s environment and will do anything to reduce costs. Which I’m sure includes kickbacks to key officials too. I hope the people stand up and demand that necessary regulations be added and enforced.

This is a reminder that the comforts we in the West, enjoy, is on the backs of the miserable elsewhere.

From the first four minutes of this video, I have seen that these very unhealthy practices to mine cobalt, that have a low compensation for local workers, are the result of a local corporation of miners and constitute approximately a quarter of the DRC’s cobalt mining operations. While it cannot be denied that the mining of cobalt has something to do with EV batteries, it seems unclear to me how this can be blamed on that. Is it that EV manufacturers do not want to pay a good price for cobalt, consequently leading to low wages and bad safety and health practices? I hope this video will be holistic somewhere in its duration because now its focusing on negatives that draw a skewed image of what’s going on. Can we see the foreign owned cobalt mines? Is this cobalt only used in EVs that it has to be associated with “going green”? In case its unclear, I’m not defending going green, I’m highlighting the shoddiness of this presentation.

Thanks for sharing this and makes us aware of how things that we buy are not financially fair and the impact it has on workers

It hurts every time I ask for a bag or know I’ve done something harmful to the environment

LOL! I lost it at “This should be one of the most wealthy nations in the world, but China owns all the mines.”

I commend this channel for covering issues such as this, but it really needs to interview representatives from Western companies sourcing cobalt and other minerals.

I said to a colleague a few days ago: Electro Cars are so great. Best thing is, that their production does not consume any resources, produce no CO2 and all the energy to power them, comes from a perfectly built power grid that runs completely on energy without CO2 production… “ Not only didn’t he catch my sarcasm but started to cheer how right I was and how wonderful things are. With the smiling face and look in this eyes, like a child talking about Christmas… This world is f_ed up beyond recognition.

This sort of mining, if absolutely needed, should be machinised and strip mined, not sending young men into deadly narrow shafts in the earth. It’s cruel, and they deserve to profit from their hardship and it makes me angry they don’t. And those innocent babies, their mothers, they suffer the most from everything. It’s utterly heartbreaking seeing Déborah and her baby boy, the love she has in dark days of hurt and difficulty.

I appreciate eye, mind, and soul opening videos like these. Thank you.

Western countries, even if not pushing their way of life on others indirectly do so. I hope these countries can start looking after their prosperity in other ways. Finding money without mining. Pray for these souls

The main problem here is the privitising of profits to foreign entities. Officials must be taking personal bribes to allow things like this to go on. You can’t blame consumers, it’s the national regulators job to ensure worker and locals safety. Whatever the price of that is charge the foreign company for it

This is a very complex matter. It’s like the question of which was first, the chicken or the egg. Was it because of the demand from capitalist corporations? Was it because of the corrupt government? Was it because of the need of the people for a mean to earn a living? Where do we start to address this problem? There would be major pushbacks when you start with a sector.

Chinese companies should provide health protective gear like masks etc. It’s their obligations to the country as a foreign investors.

Going green will be painful to the African people in more than one way. Those who built their industrial economy on coal are preventing underdeveloped countries from benefiting from the cheap coal and the alternatives are manufactured in the former which will further impoverish us. Our lot is sad . . . . . . . . . really miserable.

This shouldn’t be called “the toxic side of going green” the fact is these materials are essential for the production of technology, it’s devastating the affect it has on people when mined incorrectly. If the government invested into mining and protecting peoples rights this wouldn’t be happening, don’t fear monger people into disagreeing with green energy! We need Green energy, unfortunately these parts of the world don’t have the infrastructure to help their own people.

What can one do to decrease the effects of these abuses of power? Are there companies actually trying to do it differently and are they successful in doing so?

Makes one think how lucky we are! They are being taken advantage of!! Introducing new products without starting at the beginning of how it’s made need to be held responsible for proper safety of the people and equipment to keep the workers safe!! If big business is buying from them they need to stop being so greedy. The people that are getting your supplies need you to do right by them. You are the ones that have access to better ways of extracting what you need, they are important to your supply!! Help them to be able to live better and work safer. You would not get away with this in your own country!!

Thank you for this important documentary. It is so hard and heartbreaking to watch these innocent children pay the price. I don’t know who I am supposed to be pissed at. China or any other wealthy countries are working with our corrupted government and with those so called business people involved in making this mining deals. African problems are many and each country in the continent has its own issues. Our problems are not these rich countries, it is our own corrupted leaders and/or people. They are using our lack of education, exposure to better life, normalization of generational poverty, acceptance of the bare minimum, having more children than we can feed, civil wars, etc. We “Africans” have to find a solution for us, educating ourselves and our children is a start. Otherwise, we will always be victims of someone or something. Easier said than done, but I am hopeful that Africans will weak up soon.

I’m always amazed at how well Congolese people are able to speak English- let alone any country that struggles with similar pollution problems

Its been well known for decades that mining (in particular heavy metals) can cause serious health issues for generations if not permanently. Mining on its own can wreak havoc on your lungs, yet alone things like cobalt, uranium and other hazardous elements causing things like cancer or birth defects. Proper ventilation is key in mining, they are going down narrow mines with no breathing apparatus.

This isn’t a problem inherent with the technology though, this is a problem inherent with the companies doing the mining and the government of DRC for allowing these atrocities to happen. That being said people that are politically charged to oppose these technologies will use this to discredit efforts towards adopting these technologies even though the problems don’t lie within the technologies themselves. We should still try to tackle EV tech, and work towards better battery tech that doesn’t have as much of a raw material impact while also improving the state of the art. These are separate issues and should be treated as such.

Ugh heartbreaking and devastating. The governments across the world do not care about the people have no morals or conscience to let this happen. They are the only ones who can stop this madness. Everywhere you go same story, irresponsible corporations paying off governments to find the easy route, and the people they rely on to make that happen they poison.

What can we do to try and ensure better working conditions for these people? This is horrible!

When some people talk about green, they’re actually talking about profit.

You know who is to blame? The rich cooperations that knowingly benefit from these mining activities and not some poor fellow who thinks they’re going green and still harming people and the earth. I see a lot of people blaming the people using electric cars and I’m like yeah, if you’re going green know the costs but who produced the cars while knowing the consequences of their actions?

This is very eye opening. Thank you for reporting on this important issue.

Those poor little innocent babies . Makes me so angry to see toddlers suffering like that

Great report. Thanks for keeping us informed Channel Four

Beautifully made short documentary, right down the middle, cutting both parties here in America and worldwide deeply…..

Imagine the heartbreak of looking over that pit, and knowing that was once your farm.

thankyou for this video. i realized that it truly is never wrong to be contented with what you have.

It’s not the fault of green energy or cell phones(the main consumer of cobalt) it’s the fault of the DRC and the mine companies. We don’t blame power companies for coal miner conditions

Sad for these people. Bless their hearts.

thank god for everything you got, there are people cant even breath like normal ppl this’s really heartbreaking, everyone should know about this, lets do somthing

It’s sad that the USA 🇺🇸 will fight over land, resources, and human rights but will not go fight for the millions of people under corrupt governments. We should honestly blame ourselves we America’s protest against the minuscule problem’s of the free country we live in but when we can set aside our problems to protest and protect our fellow humans in other countries only then I would be glad to say we’ve evolved into a greater society. Humanity is not a concept!!

I hope everyone who also think that this unfair and disgusting working conditions must be improved, knows that cobalt is also used in smartphones and in normal cars … just saying…

This is an outrage. Human beings sacrificed for the green movement and profits it generates. it doesn’t matter which government business is doing it, it’s being done and these people are suffering. The innocents always seem to suffer. This is wrong and needs to be changed. The people need to rise up and demand positive change to learn that gonna be a negatively affected by this.

Money and greed are the root of evil. My heart aches for our exploited brothers and sisters in poor countries. People patting themselves on the back for buying more “green” tech at the expense of humanity. God’s way is the only “green” way.

I’ve said all along electric cars are so much more dangerous for the environment. Just imagine how dangerous it will be to dispose of electric cars if it’s this dangerous to mine the product to build them!

This is why it infuriates me when people my age hate on their (usually rich) countries. Yes all countries have their problems. Poor people and crooked politicians exist everywhere but more people need to be grateful for what they have. We take so much for granted. We have way more resources and opportunities than most.

I am so disgust that it puts me of, of supporting green or bay a electronic car. We pay so expensive an electric car so we should expect good working conditions for these mine workers but instead, the excess money we pay goes only for these big corporations. We say to be concern of the environment but we lake love for our follow workers. All these corporations should be hold accountable for the death toll of such working conditions and the misery it causes to these families. So the conclusion of going green, is a discrete pollution which is abusing our fellows into slave workers restricting their wages to a mere loaf of bread so that they must come back never knowing if they will ever see their families at the end of the day. This whole thing of this green policy is that we’ve all been indeed bluff and laugh at our faces.

What we need to realise is their government has the right to say no, and properly negotiate mining contracts and working conditions. Even the rest of the world throws money at them to resource remediation, it will be stolen by their own government anyway.

Most people are being taught the horrors of clean fuel efficient vehicles, but nobody talks about this!

It is a sad truth someone always pays a higher price so someone else doesn’t have to, this is a perfect example of that green energies are so affordable to the consumer because those who procure the raw materials are the ones paying the heavy price. There are far too many safety violations just in this video.

Are there any plans from the government of congo to change this situation? They could set a yearly fee for the foreign companies in order to fight the issues. Like masks and filters or machines? Why arent they digging with machines? Wouldn’t that be more profitable for the companies in the end?

This needs to be shared 10,000 times over.

They Need to organize, unionize and realize what they are sitting on. It is unfortunate that they are being taken advantage of but at the end of the day their country and people are deciding the price and conditions. LETS GET OSHA TO AFRICA!!!

I never thought about this… thank you to everyone in Africa who risk their lives I wish it wasn’t this way. Bless you all and I hope they can make it out of that

Its good to know many end user companies are now requesting ethically sourced cobalt. And most are avoiding congo altogether

I hate the fact that one country (won’t name name’s) doesn’t want to destroy their own land with mining and drilling, but instead feel it is acceptable to destroy the land of someone else’s country for electric cars, tech and solar-power.

This has been going on for years with metals in computers and cell phones.

The only way to “go green” without incurring excessive environmental damage is to abandon technology entirely. Modern technology is (IMO) the most environmentally damaging industry on the planet, followed closely by the fast fashion industry.

People so concerned about the environment need to reevaluate what that actual entails. It isn’t just having the most efficient machines etc. and most definitely doesn’t mean just buying an electric car… Reduce, reuse, recycle.

This isn’t about going green. This happens with any natural resource that is mined other countries. It’s really a matter of economics and the country’s own internal system. If the country had relative self sustainability and little political corruption of course you would have a working class that has alternate job availability making the labor costs of this work to go up and ultimately more expensive cobalt and thus more expensive batteries. It’s not about going green that is the cause but rather it’s all about corruption, economic influence and poor self sustainability within the country.

This is heartbreaking. To see what always comes out of greed, children and people suffering. There is no equity here.

In every solution to a problem there are other problems that will arise..but the one’s suffering are mostly the third world countries..underpaid and exploited..good thing there are locals like the doctor who helps in anyway they can.

I’ve been telling people about situations like this for a long time… Many don’t care, some spew BS they think they know, which is just regurgitating what they hear from those who are profiting from this sort of exploitation…

We need integral solutions that take into account all types of impacts. This society is so ingrained into one system that changing it so wildly can have catastrophic consequences. Political speeches like Greta’s doesn’t take into account many delicate variables that can harm the ecuation. Things need to change? Absolutely yes, and we must hurry, don’t get me wrong. However, there are ways in which we can substitute one aspect for another one without harming so radically our society.

I have been saying this for years now . It’s not about efficiency or benefitting others it is about creating a consumer type of endless waste . When more efficient products are there but no profit no product .

72 years! There are 35 year olds that look rougher than this man! Shows how healthy people were before this pollution (+ good genes)

I am sorry to hear about this and I wish those people the best of luck.

This is part of the reason I don’t trust “green” technology. If something that causes this much damage is being pushed for the exact opposite reason, then something must be happening behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, green technology is so heavily politicized that voicing any concerns about any currently favored green tech is blasphemy.

We are all watching this video on our devices and are supporting this. The cobalt is in your battery. Not forgetting the children being used to get into the smaller places of the mines!!

The end is near!! Water is not infinte, this same water from these rivers end up in the sea and eventually it impacts each and everyone one of us. We must do something to stop this and to protect our earth now!!

It’s very simple. All these miners and their families KNOW how to “live green”. In every “ Third World “ country in the WHOLE WORLD, all the peoples in these places know how to “ live green “ and sustainably. WE in the high- tech , sophisticated cities , who demand more and more from people and lands already over- stressed and depleted, WE need to require our suppliers to state from WHERE their products are sourced , and if they are sourced sustainably.

To do this to the most vulnerable is worse than genocide the evilness for money in this world is sickening

I really want the government to prevent such violations

Wow very sad. I work in the oil and gas industry and to see this is typical green hypocrisy. We are constantly under fire for destroying the environment and climate, although we follow some of the most strictest regulations out of any industry. I watch this and am lost for words as these people suffer so some hypocrites can feel good about buying their electric cars.

My heart and lungs would explode that deep underground. They would have had to drag my butt up out of there sooooo fast.. The guy said I don’t need air, I need proper payment. They had the whole crew down there. Lord I love my people, soooo resilient. Lord be with them.

This needs much more exposure!!

Seeing those kids with birth defects and villages destroyed as a cause of heavy metal mining and it’s impacts is so tragic

Finally a video showing one of the side effects of renewable energy and “going green”. Going nuclear is the best option we have. But didn’t see anyone mention it

These working conditions are below human standards..It should be definitely addressed at a larger scale….Manual hole mining by diggers should be regulated and workers should be provided better equipments…Human settlements should be kept away from these mining areas….DRC should make a law for all foreign companies to comply with rules of basic minimum workers safety and wage standards…

That’s why I’ve always said green technology is a facade

it’s sad to see people suffering in this area. how can we make a change?

Sigh it’s so ironic… I’m watching the effects of cobalt mining on these communities… on a phone that probably has colbat from the same place.. we’re all part of the problem. Who’s holding these major corporations responsible. Our is it the third party suppliers … where are the politicians / government bodies to enforce better treatment for their own people..

Man this video shook my very core is saddening to see the disformities on those kids, is crazy the things we do as humans for money, yes it is money no matter if we are being told is better for the environment or the planet there’s always companies working in the background for profits or the pleasure of rich folks, is inhumane the explotation we do to our own kind.

Green technology has been a possibility since the 1800s. Major corporations have intentionally prevented technological evolution of green tech for over a century. The technologies could have evolved past these incredibly destructive actions if we’d have started a century ago. trying to keep up with a primitive technology with a high population like this is bound to be destructive. This is a condemnation of corporations and their control of governments, not the green movement that is trying to evolve our technologies beyond our primitive resource distribution.

Big operations of Cobalt mining aren’t anything new : it’s more than half of a century that petrochemical companies uses the cobalt for petrol refining and they currently still uses a big chunk of the mined cobalt but ironically only now we point fingers at the battery industry that while not blameless, is at least doing it’s best to reduce, and in near future, eliminate cobalt use in lithium cells.

I am a father of 3 and I can’t watch this without crying. I willing to drive a bicycle instead of Tesla . I wish this could solve the problem .

This station needs more subscribers and likes to help them rank higher for more exposure.

Crazy that Michael Moore’s documentary on the failure of green energy got blackballed. Liberals ( like me) didn’t want to hear that. Thank you for this hard look at reality

Just like how the rise of steel straws doesn’t equate to being eco-friendly because of its production, green technology doesn’t equate to sustainable nor for the environment. In a company’s desire for profit, there will be lives at risk due to cutting corners and costs. There’s no ethical consumption in a capitalistic society.

Everyone should see this. This is heartbreaking.

“If the source of a Nation’s wealth is not dependent upon the productivity of the people the chances of democratic institutions being undermined at best and overthrown at worst is very high” “Which is why most dictatorships have something in common: Gold, or diamonds, or similar” -CGP, Grey Rules for Rulers

It reminds me of the conditions of Dutch colemine workers in the last century. Sad but I’m affraid that if the cobalt would be more expensive they will stop producing batteries this way and then the mines will be closed like the Dutch mines closed in 1974

Sustainability, zero omissions, and a green environment is a fallacy!

Can it be prevented? Why not, pay them more, let them live at further area, so they can buy transport to travel to work at the mine. Restric the mining area for residents 5km radius or more away.

I had no idea about this. Thank you for informing me of this atrocity.

Great and important video! The title is however misleading. Electric cars are not sustainable products. This is the cost of greedy exploitative capitalism not going green. Tackling the climate crisis in a way that’s truly sustainable not just another form of green labeled capitalism would actually benefit a lot of the people overseas slaving away for products to be accessible and cheap to us Americans

I wish there was a report that looked at BOTH sides of the coin. The problem here isn’t just the first world countries being hungry for cheap ressources, it’s also about the absolutely disgusting condition of many third world countries. The constant blame-shifting isn’t getting us anywhere. The ironic thing: The root of many problems in that context is still lacking education – on BOTH sides. One side has to grow awareness about the consequences of their consumption, the other side has to come to the conclusion that, if they live under poor and absolutely unsanitary or even toxic conditions, a box of condoms might be a good investment. But a major problem always was and still is corruption in those countries. That’s something that the local people themselves probably can’t fix, even if they wanted to, so they really have my sympathy in that regard. Apart from that, my sympathy is rather limited.

The issue is the work conditions that are manageable but people choose not to because it’s cheaper not to manage an avoidable problem. I wonder if this channel made a similar video on fossil fuel?

Very sad story and infact we are all equally responsible for this cause, if everyone voice out then companies will change their location but I feel very sorry for future generation in that city. 🙁

God bless you Sr., for bringing this information to us.

I feel so sad. What should we do as consumers? How could we help these people? We are trying our best to respect the environment and humans and without want it, we still harm. I don’t know what to say. Everything is corrupted in this world. What is wrong with human beings??? The only solution that i can think is not by car if you don’t really need it

My mother Africa. It pains me to see you misuse all your potentials. You should be the the richest continent. But corruption and greed won’t let you prosper. It’s quite sad

Looks to me that the companies need to provide their workers with respiratory protective gear so that they are protecting their workers from health problems.

Green technology is not only worse for the environment in all its forms, it’s also completely substandard to natiure’s batteries I.e. oil, gas and coal.

Can a sustainable green revolution be built without exploiting others? This question needs to be answered.

It’s what happens in every type of industry that ignores the safety of the earth and only adds to its toxicity by the agenda of “going green” it’s not green for these people. I see poor people risking life while the rich harvest the demise of the people with battery packs and junk that only adds to the suffering as a whole. Life is full circle, it eventually comes around to remind us what humble means.

How do we know that lobbyists that control the governments around the world don’t purposely keep certain communities poor so they could have cheap labor and products come from that area

Developed countries are sitting & knitting in houses because someone is doing their hard for them at 1.5$ a day. Then they scream Climate Change. So you wait 50-60 years to live a decent life & you need to pay for Green energy. That Poor in developing country is still in shock, wondering what has he done wrong. He doesn’t have AC or Centralised heating.

It’s overwhelming. It feels like there is no realistic solution to protecting our environment without having to live a nomadic or Amish lifestyle

It’s a problem of politics and economy, not of green technology. 100 or 200 years ago, mining in Europe and the US was little different. It’s especially not a reason to continue with fossil fuels or to avoid CO2 only by going back to the stone age.

They should be provided the things they need, Better infostructure and safe equipment that makes their life easier if they are going to continue to mine. Heavy metals are toxic for humans to handle.

And what happens when 80% of cars on the road are electric. How will our power grids keep up to everyone plugging their car in?

Yeah.. “Sustainable” does not mean eco friendly, it just means that the process can continue for decades.

These young men deserve better. These African countries need to stand up for their people and themselves

The western green hero drives his Tesla around town feeling virtuous. Now let’s find a new holy movement, the sustainable path. The question is, sustainable to whom? Certainly not to this people.

This is not the fault of the companies using the resources or the consumers buying them. It is the fault of the governments’ management in countries where these resources are mined. Why they blame the Western World for everything instead of finding solutions for their own people, is flabbergasting. What’s happening to these people is upsetting but instead of blaming other countries, rather work on solutions for your own people.

Go green! Windmill blades, not recyclable. Lithium batteries, not recyclable. Solar panels, not recyclable. You force technology and you will regret it. No one wants electric cars as their only choice. Put cheap subsidized solar panels on your house. What happens when they fail, and they will fail, and you have to replace them? Well now they’re mandatory they are going to be super expensive. Mandates always lead to disaster.

There is enough wealth in those lands to improve people’s lifes. The Local government is the only one who can act there. Place rules , enforce water treatment facilities, forbid villages to be formed next to mines, supply transports to miners so they can go back home…

If they weren’t mining cobalt they would be mining something else for the rich countries. Let’s not jump to conclusions about “green technology”, the real issue here is the exploitation of these countries.

So sad, I just purchased my first electric car feeling that I’m doing something that will be more environmentally friendly, this is the shocking reality.

This video makes me grateful to live in the West. No more “sad” days for me because I don’t have to breathe in dust air and have metal in my blood. On another note, is there anyway we can help these people get appropriate medical care? For example, the child who kept on touching is wound. What if the Dr. applied a bandage and educated the parents on how to take care of and prevent infections.So that the child does not undergo ANOTHER surgery. Teach the parent, educate the child. Let us teach the parent so that the children do not.have to suffer. For example, ultrasounds so that Mother’s are aware of possible deformation BEFORE birth not AT birth. There are so many Western ways to help these people. But at the same time the West is exploiting these people

Going green isn’t the problem, it’s trying to go green in a world economy that is set on the exploitation of the planet. A huge chunk of our resources could be sourced from existing landfills, but established corporations have a death grip on the planet. There’s no incentive for the large corporations to be more sustainable, they already make all the money they need. Going green means investing in the technology to process waste resources so we don’t have to mine and drill as much.

These mining companies have the knowledge of cleaner, safer methods, but choose the cheap way to maximize profits. It shouldn’t take government intervention for a corporation to do the right thing.

This just blew my mind….I am researching to create a software for this and didn’t think it was this bad

What a wake up to those who don’t know what can’t see, this side of green energy seems to be overlooked. Other people are suffering. How do you stop the green madness?

That place looks like a red desert when it was originally green fields with sand patches… we’ve destroyed that community

Nice video!! Very engaging from beginning to end. Nevertheless, businesses and investment are the easiest way to make money irrespective of which party makes it to the oval office.

This goes for ANY kind of mining. When there is mining I promise there is pollution.

“Electric cars are the future”… yeah, but what’s the price of that? Why can’t we just invest in e-Fuels? ECONOMY

I’m glad someone is talking about this. There are literal children working there for no pay. Some kids have been trafficked as well.

All of this for barely 1% of the world’s energy. Even with trillions in subsidies and far more mining, wind and solar will only be 5% by 2100. It’s simply not worth it.

Artisanal mining has been toxic for decades. This is a structural issue and should be addressed through climate finance. It should not be a reason not to have a ‘green revolution’. The people most impacted by climate change will be the individuals on the periphery of protection, these same people.

Heavy metal toxicity is a big deal. Not just birth defects but Effects the brain, impulse control, intelligence, and cognitive( mental clarity).

What people means by GO GREEN is not about the environment….but The money.

You should see the amount of heavy metals in solar panels…the strip mining it takes .

Going Green is to help the Planet and is a shame what the World do to this poor villagers. Regardless how important the minerals are,they(Rich leeches) keep this hard working people in the most devastating poorness.

Sometimes i feel life is so unfair for these ppl can’t imagine myself being born in a place where i have to do work like this n earn for a living… yet i do complaint about little things o god help them

This is greed and inconsiderate action against the land and the poor being exploited. This is saddening to watch… but I am grateful to the reporters that shed light on this for others.

There is NO such thing as “green” technology. I’ve said this for years yet I’m seen as a fool.

This makes me sooo sad, this green future is just an illusion.

My work was asked to replace a cogen central plant, with different equipment. So they could get a silver rating . The cost was to be passed on to the tenants. What a waste of resources time and money. 20 years ago I found out green energy and building certificates are all a lie. Actually higher rated buildings are actually sealed envelops, they dont breath, very sick buildings. Especially when one considers most dont even know what an economizer is, or how to use one effectivly.

Considering every humans health.I hope every scientist can discover a way to remove or destroy this toxic chemicals in all the revivers and oceans.Because otherwise we are doomed.Without water humanity and everything will die.The natives have all ready explain the consequences of when water becomes toxic to humanity.Water is life.

if it has to be mined, drilled or drained, it’s not sustainable.

Bottom line is renewable isn’t really green , unless you’re referring to the dollar made .

It made me claustrophobic just watching it. These people shouldn’t be working in such horrendous dangerous conditions. It makes you wonder who discovered these things….cobalt and what to use it for ??? It’s a well known catastrophe….children always suffer for adults actions!!! It’s all about monetary value to the top dogs and for the sake of all these people who are being taken advantage of it has to stop…!!! THEY NEED HUGE COMPENSATION FOR THE MEDICAL CONDITIONS THEY HAVE DEVELOPED …get top lawyers onto it !!

May God watch over these people that’s being used for the benefit of the rich who, could care less about the very ones that are killing themselves for barely nothing everyday. God protect these miners while in the belly of the Earth.

Every person buying an electric vehicle should have to watch this!

Oil is renewable and 100% recyclable. Just follow the money, it’s clear who is behind all scams and raising everyone’s cost of living. We need co2 to survive and thrive, the target is us.

It seems to me we need more industrialists like John Henry Patterson(founder-ish of NCR)

The problem isnt the technology or tech companies. The problem is on those countries. These are not legal mining operations. Legal mining operations have standards they have to follow according to the governing bodies. This is a problem only these people can fix.

It’s sad, yes, but the global benefits of going green significantly outweigh this issue.

How brave is unreported world to go to the Congo where prized Cobalt is mined, and tell of the poor unhealthy residents when no one else will.

This is all so sad, but I keep thinking of the young mother who said “only God knows [if my baby’s birth defects] were caused by a sorceror”. She doesn’t even seem to realize the mining dust causes this. If she did, maybe they could get away and try to make a life somewhere else.

Thank you for opening my eyes to show me the true cost of advancement

Thank you so much for opening my eyes to this issue.

How can the world go green with clear conscience with these people paying such a price sadly pitiful

Basically if foreign countries own the mines and are polluting the vilages and causing diseases should be charged of the highest environmental fines ever in history. THIS SHOULD NOT BE ALOUD. This is very sad to know this is what the other side of the DRC is.

This is why I am excited for iron batteries. Not only is it readily available everywhere, it doesnt require these people to suffer and out of Chinese control

Everything comes with a price. Yes we should try to do better for ourselves as people and respect the earth as much as possible. But when we rush into something because it is easy or it is a cash grab that is when we set ourselves up for failure. Everything takes time. In the same time we try to grow technology wise, we digress mentally as a culture. Technology has made life simpler for some and harder for others. The laws of physics are never taken into consideration when big plans are made these days.

This is heartbreaking… Third world countries are being exploited by corrupt and greedy politicians and businessman.

Nuclear is the only form of energy production that is required to take responsibility for 100% of the waste it generates, and it does.

This is such a sad story…but very eye opening….to see how the 1st….world countries are still taking advantage of the poor….so do the rich ever think about where the resources come from….I think not….

One thing to pretty much solve our problems is Stopping the oil Oil makes plastics Helps ships the same material this video displays And many more important things are being done thanks to the use of Oil But… The oil giants The ones who own the oil companies can practically pay themselves and buy infinite amounts of get out of free jail cards.

I definitely agree we need worldwide regulations for mining but the title of this video is so scummy and seems bought by big oil “toxic cost of going green” is such a hit piece title against green energy when gathering carbon energy is 10x worse for the humans gathering it and immeasurably worse in the long-term when its used.

My heart, my country, still hurts as hell

The western world has managed to pull of a great swindle by moving the cheap, unsafe labour, and environmental problems involved in producing green technologies, to third world countries. At the same time patting ourselves on the back, how only WE care about the environment and those countries don’t. If the Congolese were smart, they would hold the tech world by the balls. We can’t simply move garbage somewhere else and say it doesn’t exist. Some viewers are right to point out that using goods till the end and not replacing them is definitely a good start.

Soo much respect too those hard working mums and dads that are now suffering because of our greed

Similar stories with “artisnal” petroleum production in Africa. The problem is not the mining of various natural resources, the problem is the corruption and exploitation of the African countries…

I love this ive been saying this for years nobody would believe me wish I had this a couple years ago lol

And cobalt is just one of the minerals needed to “go green”. Go ahead, explain this one away.

HONESTLY, I WISHED THAT I HAD MONEY TO GIVE BOTH OF THEM THE LIFE THAT THEY DESERVE. I HAVE NO KIDS. TOO MUCH EVIL AND SELFISHNESS IS WHAT YOU SEE IN THIS LIFE. IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL BABY THAT CAN BE GIVEN A FULL LIFE OF HAPPINESS AND JOY. MAY GOD BLESS HIM AND HIS MOTHER…

This is why we need proper public transit, not electric cars, if we actually want to address climate change in a helpful manner.

they deserve more health benefits than employees in an airconditioned workplace.

If the exploitation of those minerals is causing such health problems to Congonians, then it’s likely that the end products in the different cities will do the same!

This is so heartbreaking, Africans are hardworking people but no matter how hard they work, they are still suffering because the government is not supporting the people 🙁

Gives a whole new meaning to going green. Yeah putting green in the pockets of those who don’t live in these conditions and mine the material. Talk about leaving a carbon foot print but only if your the one not leaving it I guess.

This is devastating but the same will happen to Serbia if Rio Tinto starts mining lithium. People are fighting against it every day, but our corrupt government has allowed them to test the soil and it’s only a matter of time when they’ll let them start mining.

The USA and DRC governments should be collaborating to ensure fair workers rights. The DRC should set standards for workers rights, which would raise the price of cobalt. However, the DRC is the leading exporter of cobalt. If the USA offered incentives for companies to buy from the DRC then the country would be able to raise more revenue and people would be safer and be paid more. If the USA made this agreement with every country that exports raw goods like cobalt, that American companies use, then those corporations would have no choice BUT to purchase ethically and environmentally less damaging mined goods. I don’t doubt that those at the top of the DRC’s government are getting generous “endorsements” from these corporations in order continue these exploitative practices. I don’t see how anyone would ever allow this to happen, as it doesn’t grow the country’s economy or benefit them at all, without taking hefty bribes.

When incompetent people become rulers, ministers, decision makers, such tragedy prevails.

This is quite hard to watch. It’s so sad how these people live and what they must deal with because the choices of others.

I feel bad For Deborah. She’s too young to go through that alone

The main stream propaganda is so strong that its hard to talk to “normal” people about the green scam.

If they owned their own mines they’d be rich, but probably got scammed/bullied by the richer nations seeking those resources

Africa is such amazing place. Maybe the ‘richest’ place in the world. I have no idea how could this be happening.

Green has multiple perspectives too. In my country, green is used to make everything electric without even thinking if a person needs that.

Makes me wonder if we are going to run out of all the materials to make electric cars real soon. Think people in rich countries are stuck with the notion that we need to build bigger , go further , do more with less time to do it. All for what ?

the first thing to do is to give/sell to pragnant women face musks to decrease the exposure to the dust in the air. it’s terrible to find out how many things are still done manually, even though we have the technology to change that. we need to do something about undeveloped countries and their life conditions, that cause demage and avoidable deaths. (for example, to connect them to clean water).

People always brand me as evil or irresponsible when I say technologies like solar are not so green and are not the was to go. I rest my case.

When safe mining is possible, making profit with less expense is the aim of the greedy. So who’s in charge?

in my opinion, the ideas of go green tech is nice, we cannot just cancel it because to think about those miners who are daring to do such dangerous job, they really need money and thats the only way for them. to me, what the problem is those miners doesnt get the proper mining SoP. if only big companies who actually need those mineral really investing on the proper mining so the miners still have jobs with deserved pay and could done it safely and also avoiding the mineral to dust anywhere to the populated area. i really hope things got better in there…

Musk having tears on hearing that people in Australia are turning their lights off as much as can due to the high electricity bills charged by the gov…. Meanwhile in Africa….

I feel like when a consumer buys these products, the manufacturer is making such a profit that at least ten percent should be put in a fund to help all of them. If I bought an electric car, I’d want some of the cost I’m paying to go to the people that do the real work, and suffer for that choice. They should go upstream and divert the river in 1/4 //3/4. Let the mines have a quarter, enough it does not keep running the watershed, and the other 3/4 diverted to a new settlement for the workers and families. Cover all medical costs also with profit. Or release Tesla technology,, clean technology… hidden for profit technology.. These people deserve more than they risk… way more. All over the planet there are these dirty secreys.. I’m ashamed .. I am somewhat of a pepper and refuse new tech… I live just fine,, but for how long before toxins are in my watershed? This needs to stop.. pray our scientists invent better solutions.. we are killing our planet.. tgat could shake us off overnight like fleas.

Thank you for sharing this. It’s eye opening.

Or we could just get the minerals from an asteroid. Cause ffs, just tow one into earth orbit and get to work. Would probably last everyone on the entire planet for hundreds of years, with no limits on using things like copper, iron, titanium, lead, zinc, etc. Another option is to look into pulling up material from the lower crust, where the rock is pliable and soft from heat and pressure.

Question: How is it that foreign countries take billions in resources from so called poor countries, but between them can’t even put back something into the economy they get their wealth from, like a clean water stand pipe for instance?

Electric cars hey, WHO OWNS THE MOST ELECTRIC CARS AND SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE ALONG WITH OTHERS had better take some of his billions of dollars to put back in to the people and there lands… It’s not fair that they have all the minerals and are not being paid the way they shud be and rich people take advantage of the loopholes in the government.. Disgusting they have to live like this..

This video should be on a loop at Tesla retail sites.

I still like it that we’re getting lose of patrol traffic, we are economic slaves because of gasoline. Now we get electricity from sun and wind on our own grounds for cheap compared with oil. No more trash country’s in poor places but sending education and help instead. It’s good to be aware of new problems for society’s and environment in a world without oil based traffic, so good and educative docu but total damage is lower compared with a oil economic in my long term expectation.

It’s not other rich world leaders fault alone. Your leaders are agreeing to have your good people do the dirty work and keep most of the the proceeds by paying you close to nothing while also being reckless with the good health of your land. No, it’s not rich people’s fault, it’s your leaders who love a good deal better than your well being.

For those people who thinking going green with their fancy fully electric car Take A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS DOCUMENTARY. Environmental friendly is NOT for all human beings

Great video, if you can set up a sponsor network that can assist the children I will support. It’s great having awareness and greater to act.

When governments propose green nations most people do not understand the cost to humanity and the chemical waste to make these green technologies. So sad. The poor always pay the most.

Omg i got clausterphobic.thank you for your jobs.what a shame they need to withstand terrible pay and conditions. As a person with disabilities..this hurt me alot.i resognated.this makes me love my mom more for working hard as a single mom and providing .bless these ppl

Should do one on all the abandoned wind farms in the plains states and California

As usual..the people living in poverty putting their lives in danger for the wealthier countries…this is a disgrace of humanity.

None of this changes until us consumers of these products in the First World demand change of the mining operations and basic safety and welfare of the workers. We are ultimately responsible.

The phone you are using to watch this is what these guys are digging for Just let that sink in..

Don’t matter, as long as the Green folk can stroke their egos condescending others on how good they are, with self congratulatory pats on each others’ backs. No different to celebs telling us to go green when they drive Hummers and fly about in jets or helicopters.

from corporate company slaves to mining slaves to factory slaves to be used by normal people to CEOs stuck in in the company without the time to even spend the money that is made.

This reminds of childhood story books of greed and it’s evil effects…. These mineral are available under the earth but at the cost of human life…. Sadly it boils down to the rich and poor eventually

for the record i absolutely ADORE the go green campaigns. Always the biggest promoters are the people travelling in jets for their meetings, and have 5 – 11 cars in the garage that burn fuels like TIR Trucks. Im also ashamed for my choices during those campaings as well

So what companies are running those mines that way? Why can’t they be treated and regulated? And what makes you think the non-green industry isn’t doing the same thing. In fact a oil company was just caught drilling wildlife preserve near a water delta…

I am living sustainably with a solar system and my electric car that I’ve had for 10 years uses lithium Manganese oxide instead of cobalt. Everyone should be using lithium iron phosphate batteries for energy storage. Nobody’s wearing masks properly. They should be always wearing masks in that city even when they’re sleeping

This green technology is not so green after all but the companies will continue making big profits with little care about the pollution and the harm to the people.

But also remember that less than 100 years ago these were the same conditions that British and welsh miners were enduring for coal

And this is why I’m sticking with petrol as long as I can.

Going green would actually really work. The issue is people in general don’t want to put in the work for it.

I’m sorry for these men and women who deal with this

This video should be mandatory viewing by customers at Tesla dealerships and online, worldwide.

If I were them I wouldn’t ship it off and I don’t have a electric vehicle id tell them to totally stop what they’re doing and start demanding more money, they make so much off the cars and aren’t willing to pay these people these people need to stop all of it

The dark side of mass consumption in the modern world by the developed/developing countries. Electronics, Plastics, Meat, when processed and produced on a global scale can make Earth uninhabitable.

World leaders of developed nations like to preach about how going green is the best option, and that what they are doing is right, but you can bet that they would never set foot on a cobalt or lithium mine

FINALLY SOMEONE DOING A DOCUMENTARY ON THIS!! /

This is the equivalent of your shirt being made in sweat shops, you don’t need to go shirtless or demonize “going green” (which basically means, being a good person), just buy things from companies who treat their employees with respect, including your electronics.

UN Global Governance and Leaders around the World are also responsible for this. The UN and companies using the Cobalt need to pay these people a wage which includes stipend for risking their lives, and at least the same average hourly wage as miners in other Countries. The UN should be looking out for these people and making sure that the mines are shored and fortified. They speak about their “Climate Change” Agenda, as though they can control the weather, in the meantime their Agenda requires the abuse of people and the environment to do it.

I’m sure he insisted the mine wasn’t safe enough for you and just offered to strap a camera to his head for you video. You’re no different than the previous stone dealers who give him penny’s on the dollar for the stones he risks his life for.

A corrupt person has to be corrupted by someone, the same goes for governments and corporations.

It is amazing that the miners who risk their bodies and lives will get paid crap. While the people at the top who do very little physical work get the most money. When that miner gets injured who will care, who will feed his family? All for what? SOMETHING WENT WRONG WITH THE STRUCTURING OF SOCIETY.

Wow, thank you for making this documentary. I’m going to cry now. 😐

Living off grid In a snow fort with no electricity is looking more and more appealing everyday. That may sound crazy and stupid, but living with the fact that every move I make in an economy is the result of human suffering and the mass polluting of the earth is sick to me. There must be a better way, and I’ll keep searching, but if I’ve searched endlessly to no avail, I’ll move to the mountains and go hermit. That, or become numb to what used to upset me and be fine with the fact that I contribute to injustice and inequality and keep doing it anyway.

Most people don’t know that the green energies are not really green. Another problem is on the other side disposing too many batteries after they are expired.

They should make contract with company that the company will give them some good % of their profit because those workers are working for THEM. Its a shame that big companies use “light workforce” in order to make big money.

Perhaps Robots can become the miners.. I am so sorry to see this happening, all because of heartless people in charge.. I’m in a mining town in America and the company just lies about thier projects,and evicts residents who are in thier way…just cruel people.. We must keep exposing these deeds and doing what we can to stop empowering them️️

If I wrote this comment here, for how long would it travel before it reached to them? Communication is the backbone problem of Africa. They got clothes, but don’t wear masks. They got rubber, but no air hoses. They got engines, but no air compression. And its all doable at a low cost, to provide the right equipment. But they got no know how. Its not about resources. I can see how much trouble it may be to even properly educate the people on the subject, especially when Im seeing how the people on the internet and real life treat the ‘free education’. The fair authorities got a problem because these people dont trust authorities. The corrupt authorities got a problem because they’re in for a quick buck grab and don’t even realize the right equipment would provide better productivity. You dont need much to build an air compressor and power it. Its greed powered work and demand, and instead should be think and provide.

and people think they are doing good because they drive an electric car…

So sad. This world is so cruel to their neighbors

If you’re not anti imperialist at this point I don’t know what to tell you. This is heartbreaking

Someone tell me how pipelines are more environmentally invasive than mining for things like cobalt and lithium….

The miners said they don’t want oxygen (safety) they just want money. Maybe just maybe the people exploiting these may never improve their situation.

All these people suffer from big businesses the big business gets rich well its people suffer and pay with their lives and health. Those big industries should be held accountable for there actions.

Thank you so much for sharing this. Awareness is everything.

The western countries that buy the metals could easily afford to fund their own mines with their own equipment and provide jobs for the local people and pay them well, then they wouldn’t even need to buy the metals either because they funded it.

I wish everybody really realised that electric cars are a big con. They’re not green if we take into account mining production and disposal.

This is happening in Africa and people are trying to stop the opening of a mine in Minnesota that would mine cobalt in a much safer manner

It is all because of us. We, the consumers, force companies to produces the lowest cost technologies so we can buy them! It has to affect someone in the chain!

It actually sickens me that our demand for technology has a direct inpatient on these peoples lives. Zero sums game

I’ve known about this for a long time, and I cringe so hard, every time I see some rich American “influencer” flexing and bragging about being green and how they only use battery products, or how Tesla built the largest battery factory on the planet I am Environmentalist but I know that we are way off to finding an actual solution

Thanks Elon Musk. We really appreciate what your doing for the environment. I’ll take my diesel engines back please.

I had to stop watching after Deborah and her beautiful little boy, I couldn’t see for tears. Heartbreaking! What are we doing to the world?

Can’t bare the mother’s tears! How much questions she face!

I agree the workers and nearby communities are exploited but some of the issues are the manner in which the mines are operated. Miners in in inadequate personal protective clothing and equipment. Poor industrial hygene which is effects community health and the environment. These issues need grassroots community involvement and assistance from their government for regulations and oversight. There is info and help to minimize the impact of the mining operations. And before the trolling starts I am not blaming the people in the community or the mine workers like I said they are being exploited by those who would profit from green energy.

Seems like no matter what direction we head, there is always some negative effect. Some more apparent than others.

Congolese govt should rework mining practices in their country. Any company mining there should make sure the environmental and health impact in negligible.

Everything has a price, don’t let greenie people make you see it any different. Coal mining has, or had, a price and miners got Black Lung. Now these miners are having problems as well. You trade one horror for another.

If only everyone would wake up and believe in the living God so that we can shake off these nasty worldly habits and just live like how we were supposed to.

Ever notice when any green solution is promoted it comes with all positives. Jobs seem to be the big benefit. I heard green jobs are not all that great as far as income is concerned. No one ever says we have to cut back, sacrifice for the betterment of all etc.

Human life at the capacity we are at is not sustainable, that is what it’s come down to. Human population must be controlled and it’s a problem we don’t want to face. There should be serious regulation on human population but there is none in place. Trying to replace one pollutant for another to try and sustain our bad and irresponsible habits will never be the answer. If it’s not too late already and the damage we caused is only catching up, it’ll be too late soon enough.

The thought of a cave in and suffocating with no safety involved seems horrific to my safety first trained mind

In the US the mantra is, and has been for years, that climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels. I am sure that there is some validity to that, but ” Green Energy ” is not without significant costs. These costs begin with mining of not only cobalt, but other minerals used to make batteries, solar panels and other high-tech products. We as a planet have just begun on this journey of trading fossil fuels for other forms of energy, so the effects of this new technology have barely begun. Any time anything is mined, from gold to aluminum to coal to any other mineral there are environmental and human costs. Disposal of these products once they have outlived their usefulness is another huge issue to be faced. To date most of this technology has not hit the scrap heap, but it will begin soon, and the scrapping of this stuff will probably be shipped off to the poorer countries of the world. Habitat for animals and plants are ruined as well. Where I live there are lots and lots of Teslas driven by the modern equivalent of Yuppies. I do not associate with them and am not sure if they think they are saving the planet or just want to be trendy. What I do know is that they are all quite wealthy by world standards and are not affected by the side-effects of mining the materials required to produce the batteries for their cars. Out of sight, out of mind. This sort of information needs to be reported by the mainstream media so their viewers can see what is really involved in going green. Unfortunately, the media is controlled by big tech and the super- wealthy and this will not happen. Some of us around the world see the lies or deliberate lack of reportage of negatve aspects of going green. We are trying to make our voices heard, but, as we all know, the wealthy don’t care about the problems caused by their products. These people will never have enough money or power. Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person is benefitting the most from this alternative technology and he could care less who is harmed. He and others have bamboozled the politicians worldwide to support them in ” going green. “Keep speaking up about the effects of these technologies. I know I will.

Are you serious, that they barely have room to move?, my dad was a coal mine all his working life, and he told me he worked in a coal vein that was only 18 inches high, he said you crowd on his belly for hours to get to the end of the coal.

Been trying to say this but people think I’m crazy or anti green. No, people. I just want to at least have a conversation.

The licensing doesn’t seem like it is for maintaining safety, but rather just getting a cut.

If only they could manufacturer the product themselves with the raw material instead of having to sell

The next time someone in an electric car says its “greener” than a gasoline engine ill show them this video…The “greener” a technology is the more of the earth they destroy to find the minerals and metals they need.

What a interesting documentary.. never thought that would also be an impact

Oh poor people. I wish them all the best

I suppose this is what happens when a large country buys large portions of country rich in untapped recourses with no regard for the local people. as long as the polies get paid…I despise corruption

I’m not usually affected by close enclosures, but just watching these tunnels via screen makes my anxiety spike….no thanks….!

Meanwhile, people in America think working 9-5 five days a week to earn a living is bad . These people would fight to the death for that.

I get it. Its not like there is not a toxic cost currently. Maybe we should regulate business that exploits and endangers other for profit.

Politicians push “green” because its new tech and new tech makes money. GM stock has been flat for years but tesla stock is out of control. Its not about the environment its about money……its always about money.

This is very informative thank you! Though it was sad.

Isn’t going green eliminating the need for all of this by reducing consumption as it’s first step?….

The company should pay for anything that happens, how can u come there, take the minerals and abandon the environment. The government sucks too. This is colonialism.

I am watching this on my smartphone. As sad as this is, I am so addicted to the technology of my society, I don’t want to give it up. I don’t care enough about our health, the health of the planet, nor the health of our children to stop. I am a civil war. You know it’s sad, but true.

You’ll never see this on the news. Love how blind we are

This is so unfortunate…it is so dangerous…why are these people not threatened with respect and paid enough to feed their family…unfair I will call it..

This shows that our technology comes with a cost.

Who n why would one dislike such a documentary? All thru the clip all i have seen are people who are dirt-poor n yet its a mining region,really sad.

You are the voice… The mining company owner’s….give these people their rights to live in peace… Pay your bill to the people… United nations will intervene…. inhumane company owner’s nationally and internationally

Amnesty International alerted corporations about the conditions that their outsourced work is causing several years ago.

I instantly became claustrophobic as soon as that guy got down to the bottom of that tunnel in that mine .no thank you. Thats a man there

Humanity’s disgusting in a general way… they (the rich) want the best, the they don’t grant a decent way of living for the men who risk there lives for this…

Quand j’écoute ce type de reportage je me sens vraiment mal. On exploite tant la terre et les personnes, c’est amoral. On exploite pour fabriques des vêtements, des cosmétiques …., et même des énergies verte. Ça ne tourne pas rond. Dans mon fauteuil, la tablette sur mes genoux, je suis complice passive de tout cela.

Going green should be about consuming less. That was my conclussion.

End is not very far, how an greedy rich can destroy the lives of poor vulnerable people. This is an excellent example.

NICE VIDEO !!! Very engaging from the beginning to the END.Nevertheless business and investment are the best way to make money irrespective of which party make it to the Oval Office.

This is so hard to come to terms with. My lifestyle is ruining the lives of countless people.

Thanks Mr Jamal for your best reports

Can the sustainable future be built with out the exploitation of others? Short answer: No. Greed and self interest rule the day.

Its amazing how almost all wealth in the world comes from the ground of Africa

We can all be abundant with everything we need, all we need is to plant seeds. Food is a medicine if you only eat plants, people will just be better off in there gardens

The thing that bothers me is how these mega companies that profit MASSIVLY off of these peoples suffering cant take some of their multi trillion dollar profits and supply these hard working people with a good wage, water filtering technology, resperators, boots etc. so they literately arnt dying. So selfish.

I have yet to see one mathematical equation that proves green energy works

There is another disaster waiting to this community: When the mine closing down, and none of those people will have a job. Companies working hard to develop cobalt free batteries.

Not a mention of the entire landscape being use as a dump. Im sure the mining industry pollutes the water and the ground but come on the people themselves aren’t so helpless they can’t pick up garbage and put them in big designated piles. Yes it will take a lot of work but they are also the ones that let it get that way. You can’t be walking on garbage everywhere you go and blame somebody else entirely to why there’s pollution. Even if the citizens aren’t going to point out that the garbage is large factor for the polluted water at least the documentary crew should have enough credibility to acknowledge the situation.

did you think that resources grow in your back yard like in a strategy game? did you think that the price you pay is high because you had a bad day? the price of products is easy to calculate: low price (for raw materials) + shipment + manufacture + big profit = end price. The one that provides the raw materials never gets his moneg worthd especially in countries like this otherwise why would anyone bother to buy from them?

And here i am not buying things what i wouldn’t use more than few times or throw away in a few weeks because i know how bad it is to work in a factory and that’s not even as bad as this or other works for an almost good “second world” salary.

The fact that economic growth in Africa is systematically suppressed by colonial intervention should be documented as a crime against humanity.

I wish Africa could separate and work for themselves

Don’t matter so long companies can make billions.

Green technology is way of colonialism. Simply poor countries who are forbidden to use coal for development and energy, are being forced to buy “green” energy from developed countries, or technology to make this “green” energy.

Dudes don’t even have proper shoes. Imagine breathing in all that crap? Amazing but all these guys won’t live long with all the health issues that will arise

It’s like food where everybody doesn’t NEED to eat 3 times a day. The only green that matters is the kind you spend, know that!

It’s so worth it and important so Becky can driver her Tesla through Starbucks and feel good about herself.

Cobalt issue already being addressed by Tesla due to the human impact. Does this list fossil fuel impactsor?

And the thing about this is that this COULD be done better with better conditions, pay and actual safety equipment but everyone turns a blind eye to this

Nigeria should impose more safety guidelines. Plus where is the proof that one thing equals the other? There are people born with birth defects here in the US as well. That doesn’t mean we injested cobalt.

Before there was blood diamond now there is blood cars!

If the Government wasn’t so corrupt…no other reason the people still suffer.. Cobalt is such an important metal..literally in almost every electronic and they have almost all of it.

what would the cost of going green be if a full and fair price was paid for the cobalt?

This should be known to all.

What happens if the miners stage a walkout? For every miner who leaves, there will be 3 more ready to take his place. That is the reason countries like this are kept poor, desperate, uneducated.

What a shame and sin. Pay these workers the proper wage. The government probably keeps most of the profit. Horrible…

Sure. We can go back to being 100% combustion based society. The critic can eat all the carbon emission.

Going green isn’t what we think it will be. Our lives here in American will be flipped on our heads. As much as we strive to go “green” most people are not ready to make such drastic changes. Everything is about sales and items are not made to last. The relationship and expectation between corporations and consumers will have to change…and I don’t know if corporations are willing to take in lower incomes.

That mine looks like it will cave in easily. Sad that these guys have to work like that

If people want to go green they should bike as much as they can. This is ridiculous. It pains me how many people are ignorant in richer countries.

That’s only temporary compared on the cost of permanent damage on the future if fossil fuels don’t banned after 100 years those miners needed fair support on their government to avoid health problems you see no good equipment wrong move can be fatal to death.

With 7 billion people on earth, nothing is sustainable anymore. Sustainability seems to cost a lot of damage for the other part of the world.

This has been known but ignored for years … Going green sounds so good and makes the “Gretas” feel better … Just don’t EVER look at the unintended consequences or behind the curtain because it shatters your utopian view. We are just replacing one set of problems for another; wait til we have to start disposing of batteries and old solar panels just to name two toxic issues. Read the book “Unintended Consequences of Renewable Energy” by Otto Anderson for a more sober look at what Green really means.

So many factors causing issues there including the garbage in piles by the river and stuff in the river that is not from mining.

If these minerals are so important, why can’t these people be provided with trackers and proper equipment to safely dig it up? It’s a win-win situation for the buyers/companies too. They can efficiently get more product faster. The demand for it is only going to increase.

I think I’ll take $2.00 gas again. Let’s open up the pipeline and start fracking back-up. I’ll gladly support our people over here in the U.S. being paid fairly and not being abused. No one should support electric vehicles and these industries until the abuse is recognized.

To tell this story under the guise of the “green economy” is disingenuous. Mining in Africa is far bigger than the green economy. One of the biggest exploitation of Africa resources is oil. Then there’s gold, diamonds, coffee, chocolate, and uranium. In fact, the US is a nuclear power because of uranium mined in the Congo in Africa. Most of the violence in Nigeria and North Africa is over oil. Of course, that also includes the Middle East.

This is still allowable stupidity and neglect by the greedy corporations that don’t take Life into account because they’re doing it for money and not to improve the quality of Life for All Life. Its greed not green! Love n Blessings Family!!!

Well, we’ve all made our pandering comments expressing faux concern on YouTube now, so we can go back to playing on our computers and phones that use the same components mined in this documentary without even feeling one iota of guilt or shame.

This is very important. Slavery, specifically child slave labor, is a big part of green energy. It’s one they are all too happy to stay silent about.

Cobalt demand has been on a steady rise since decades. Terrible stuff.

This is just an example old bad cheap mining. We strip mine plenty without causing these problems. It’s just these places don’t care. The companies that buy it, don’t care. There are plenty of environmentally friendly ways to get cobalt. It just costs more.

This is why electric cars are not the solution . This is disgusting and the people who suffer generally go unknown .until we have a better alternative to battery tech this should remind us all that at the moment there is no such thing as net zero .

Much of the blame lies on Congolese government. If they have the resources they have the upper hand. They can fix wages and forces these MNCs to lay a fair wage. Middle East got rich out of the oil rush. It’s time African leaders get their act straight…

These victims need justice. May God(Jesus) bless them and take care for them. Please spending wisely and carefully. Only buy what we needs. Slavery still exist until today.

God bless and protect these people! AMEN!

Leaders of this country should be ashamed of themselves for help other countries beauty and health but their people are struggling and deceased

Amazing channel! It’s like waking up from the matrix

If there is an afterlife, what’s the point in keeping this life environmentally green?

“one man’s joy is another’s hell”

It’s actually more ethical for me to drive my old truck with 585,000 miles on it

Knowledge is true wealth not minerals that can be used up

This CAN be done in a more professional way, without risk

I got shivers looking at those young men in those narrow pits underground. Things the poor has to do, for the rich to live like gods.

Just like bio fuel was the solution for diesel or did it cause more harm the Environment ?

This is my bloody point over the last couple of years. When I argue these points with eco terrorists (eco warriors are good people, I consider myself a eco warrior) they call me a crony capitalist. Crazy people. ️️️

The green revolution and it’s consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

the government should set price floors for these minarals….wow so it’s way deeper than money lost!….poor families….hope it gets better

They are mining material that’s basically worth billions of dollars. The tantalum used in the circuits of your mobile or laptop, the cobalt powering the batteries, and of course mica used in makeup. All mined for bread crumbs comparative to sale worth. Isn’t kind of ironic the minerals we need for almost every working component we use in our day to day life is acquired by literal slavery. But they use the Africans desperation against them to get them working for next to nothing. If them minerals were mined in somewhere like Aus or America it would cost billions in machinery and workers, no point when you using people for slave labour. We are all aiding the continuous slavery across the world.

maybe they need to shelter the pregnant women to a safe place far from the mining field, especially if their husband is a miner. But yeah who’s gonna pay for that and make it happen

So this whole life on earth is a zero sum game right? Difficulty and hardship is the default natural state for every one of us. If someone is enjoying an easy life, somewhere on earth somebody is paying for it. I am thankful for all the things I have. I was planning to buy an electric scooter. And the whole research lead me to this video. I don’t know what to say or whom to blame because people like me are creating demand for these kind of things.

Industries are going to shop where they can get the best deals.. the best prices. Just as most of this audience will shop at Walmart, regardless of the decades of claims of worker exploitation, Government subsidies, and questionable sources. Price is King. As long as countries offer Cobalt to the World Market, Industries will buy it. The responsibility for working conditions lies with the individual governments. Now consider this; If a country makes a deal with a modern mining company, the company will bring in drastically smaller, but more skilled crews along with heavy industrial machinery. A modern crew, 10% the size of the primitive mining’s crew, will produce 100 times more Cobalt ore. The Mining company, and the government now gets all of the profits. The 90% of the original mine crews? They are now unemployed. Starvation and idle hands create crime and revolution. A return to tribal warfare. Again, the responsibility lies with the government insuring that the people don’t get tossed aside in the equation. Anybody know of any African governments free of this type of corruption? Yeah, the wages and conditions suk… but the alternative is far worse.

I would say just bike it, but then there are probably all sorts of unethical practices in mass producing bikes. You can’t win.

The three main pillars of sustainability are SOCIAL, ECONOMIC and environmental. For some reason there’s the misconception that sustainability is only associated with environmental circumstances. The happiness and security of citizens should also be valued.

Considering cobalt is used in every electronic I wouldn’t consider “going green” as the main cause of this colbalt mining

The illusion of clean energy is disgusting.

Here’s a question? Do we ask , can the green agenda happen without the exploitation of others but forget to ask, do we really need the green agenda?

Africa always gets screwed over time and again

Every time people mention they have reduced carbon footprint emissions by going solar, buying electrical vehicles, and so on; this video should be played to remind them you’re still just a brainwashed consumer. It’s all about money. Always.

Oh c’mon! The cause of the toxic cost isn’t from other people going green. It’s from corporate greed and lack of empathy, and vision.

Ernesto Guevara tried to help black Africa rise up to imperialist. However, he was severly disheartened by the self-satisfying rebels he encountered who didnt care for the greater causes and goals.

Tesla and other companies benefiting from these resources should just build proper mines and employ the locals working there already but I guess that’s just how greedy people are

I wonder what the toxic costs of going and staying with mainly fossil fuels have been. .are …and will continue to be

It’s like sweat shops. Closing them doesn’t make everything right because people choose to work there because they need to make a living. Legalising protective worker rights would close many mines so they wouldn’t want that. The only solution is for corporations to pay for resources fairly and that’s not going to happen. But there’s plenty room to enforce BETTER prices without driving away corporations, so conditions could improve if the gov dared piss off foreign interest a bit. That’s my uninformed take anyway.

Just like I said no matter how popular it is what the perception may be due to the pressure of our public figures stating the fact that this is the only way and the best way it is not a healthy or an improvement in our lives because the solution is elsewhere and we should not ban oil just because they feel that it’s not right. Oil based products have advantages and disadvantage is all electric such as electric cars advantages and disadvantage so just going based on product the way to do it unless it doesn’t take more then what it gives And at the end batteries last night the solution I think Should look elsewhere

Every solution contains a problem.

The thing is .. it’s not tucking green technology. It’s just as environmentally devastating as oil. Nuclear energy is also horribly devastating in a way that we don’t even know how to begin to reverse. But of course real green energies truly exist but you’ll never see it come out because it doesn’t make these corporations loads of money, and to keep everyone dependant on these corporations as well.

The idea of green energy is good. It’s the execution of it that’s horrible. These people have zero to no proper equipment, working in hazard areas too close to home with no form or type of filtration. They are not cared for because the higher ups only care about results and profits.

I know this is a professional type of video but I couldn’t hold back the laughter when we cut to a frame where a woman was getting a shot by a Dr, her baby wide eyed the needle like, “wtf you doing with that!?”

£1.50 a day is staggeringly poor, and these people should be paid a fair wage

Well, automation and robots could easily replace manual labor but we would rather not divest the technology here because profits I guess. However to divest them in military technology to kill and wage more wars is ok.

Someone is always going to be exploited. Until robots are doing all the menial tasks, humans will always suffer for others gain.

Reminds me of coal miners from Appalachia. Any resources than we need from the earth come at a heavy cost.

How could they be getting irradiated by cobalt when the only isotope of cobalt that’s radioactive is cobalt-60 which has to be externally irradiated what they are mining is most likely cobalt-59 not radioactive and is stable

“Can a sustainable green revolution be built without the exploitation of others?” My answer: not within the confines of capitalism.

It is great to report this so everyone is aware of environmentalist policy problems. But, can I ask, the revenue earned from this video, would it be donated to these miners? At least partial ? @unreported world

Why would people still thinking that their electric car battery is “green”!!

Wow! Climbing down those holes takes some serious guts

This world is ludicrous. Thank you for this important piece of information as post this from a smart phone. My heart aches.

I hope all those that change smartphone every year see this. Lets save the environment by destroying it. Its what i hear when i hear “lets go green”.

Yes this causes polution. But without the wealth it brings in people would likley starve.

All the money goes overseas? I’ll bet a lot sticks to goverment officials.

The ‘profit’ from mining mineral returns vs the cost of keeping the people of the country fit and healthy need to be considered. You can’t have a strong, enduring country with weakened, dying people. Unless of course you are going to replace the people by another people and want more profit to go to fewer people…

The number of tropical storms, tornado, hurricanes, forest fires and so on are increasing more and more. A Lot of people don’t care about tomorrow especially the ones that are getting rich from fossil fuel but things are going to get so terrible that we won’t have a chance to reverse things, right now in some parts of the world you can’t even breathe easily because the toxic fumes that are in the air but people won’t start doing the right thing until this planet’s on fire and by then it be too late, may God help us all

This just shows the hypocrisy of the developed world! EVs come at a heavy cost to African people. And here’s us thinking that electric vehicles are the future! Unbelievable!

This is a must see for anyone who thinks they need a new phone or computer or electric car.

This should be all over the news.

We have all been deceived in the name of profit. God bless us all! Everyone!

This is the underbelly of globalism. It is interesting that so many politicians that despise colonialism are all for globalism. They just CHOOSE to see what they want to see.

The entire continent of Africa is like one big giant buffet for rhe world to feast off of! Gold, silver, Diamonds, cobalt, Ivory, Oil, Chocolate, Wildlife, land and more importantly damn near free manpower! And the list just goe on and on! If it weren’t for mass corruption all over Africa from it’s leaders Africa would most definitely be the richest continent on the planet! Sad! A sleeping giant!

There is always a human cost when it comes to industrialization. It’s not right but that’s the fact.

This will get worse all over the world as electric vehicles and green technologies become more and more popular. Don’t forget the copper mines, they’re 10 times worse.

No value is placed on the lives of these people they are expendable. The suffering ust exceed that of slavery. There’s no remedy because it’s motivated by greed. And the beneficiaries don’t care

The hope for me is that mother earth decides one day to just wipe humans out because of what we have done and continue to do to the planet

Everything comes with a cost. I guess developed countries get to be developed because they make other countries pay those costs.

I just love the idea of the GREEN NEW DEAL and what it’s gonna do for all of us!!

Heartbreaking no words to describe the disappointment

There is such a thing a sustainable mining. But exploiting people and land is a lot cheaper and cost effective. This pleases our overlords.