Photo: House awaiting eviction by energy transition mine, Kolwezi, DRC, September 2022.  © Amnesty International/Jean-Mobert Senga

People of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) pay a high price to supply the world with copper and cobalt: forced evictions, illegal destruction of their homes, and physical violence. Send a message to President Tshisekedi to end forced evictions and other human rights abuses at copper and cobalt mines.

What’s the problem?  

The climate crisis means that the world must quickly move away from fossil fuels and find new sources of energy. We need batteries to drive this transition. But this global shift must not sacrifice people or nature.

The DRC supplies most of the copper and cobalt used in lithium-ion batteries. These batteries power our smartphones, laptops, electric cars and bicycles, and play a major role in the energy transition away from fossil fuels. This transition is urgent and necessary.

However, mineral-rich regions of the DRC are sacrificed to mining development, leading to a shocking series of abuses in the region. Thousands of people have lost their homes, schools, hospitals, and communities due to the expansion of copper and cobalt mines in the DRC, especially in Kolwezi, which sits above rich copper and cobalt deposits.

These abuses take place in a country still recovering from colonial brutality, during which millions died and countless raw materials were mined and sold on international markets with little benefit to local people. In the global race to secure minerals for the energy transition, corporations and governments are once again putting profit above human rights.

President Tshisekedi describes the DRC as a “climate solution country”. Now he has the chance to become a global leader in climate justice and prove that in the DRC protecting human rights is an integral part of a just energy transition.

What you can do to help?

Send a message and call on the DRC government to end forced evictions in Kolwezi and put people before profit.