Toxic Cost of Going Green | Unreported World
Toxic Cost of Going Green | Unreported World
Unreported World investigates the dirty business of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The mineral is fuelling the planet’s green revolution, but at what cost?
Around seventy percent of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Central African country, mostly from the southern Katanga area, thought to be one of the ten most polluted places on earth. Reporter Jamal Osman travels to Kolwezi, a city dependent on supplying Cobalt, a critical component for electric cars and rechargeable batteries. Residents are employed by large multinational companies, or in smaller, and more dangerous artisanal mines. We meet the men who clamber down dark weaving airless tunnels to extract cobalt for as little as $150 per month. But is the paycheck worth the health risks that doctors have uncovered?
Director: Girish Juneja
Series Producer: Andy Lee
Executive Producer: Ed Fraser
Production Company: Channel 4 News
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Cobalt I know is extensively used in paint making, never knew so much price is paid for it. The Govt of Congo must step in and stop the exploitation of their own ppl. If ppl don’t stand up for themselves nothing will change.
Liberals pushing hard for green white communities at the cost of poor black ones. Sounds about right.
It’s the government selling the land to foreigners…its sad
I think most of these problems caused by 1. Greed from local leaders stashing their wealth outside their country. 2 lack of spending on local infrastructure improvements. For water conservation cleaning 3. Disorganised industry. Finally, I can recollect some of this in my local area, there was Pharmaceutical company that produced liver tonic, which releases water in brown colour, all well and bore wall within a km or radius has this colour of water. After the area developed with educated people settling, they lodge protest to move the industry..after few years the ground water color is improved. Now, if I talk about fresh water lake, it is in bad shape after people encroached its surroundings and start sending sewage water into the lake. So, human progress has cost no matter which path we take. But the question is how we balance progress vs threat to our own survival due to poverty or pollution.
To answer hat last question ‘I say yes to bc if u use the wind for power that wont heart anyone, i guess it all comes down to wat u call green energy lol im thinkin n im not very smart at all but thats wat comes to my mind ( wat u would call green ) #Period.
One rubber gloves company abuses staff members, western world decided to boycott the whole country.
But for their precious ev, they can turn a blind eye to the abuse and mismanagement in the places in this video
Heartbreaking!
They need a labour movement.
The only green deal Is money made off a slaves back
Our world is such a cruel place we have no regards to our fellow human beings
Great reporting.
It’s a shame for the so called "Developed" countrys that this actually is allowed going on…And China is the buyer of most of it, a country that doesn’t give a shit about workers health and safety…..
"Artisinal mines" omg I’m dead. What a way to sell it
They need to sell those stones for thousands
Also add the tax the criminal gangs or terrorist have on the mines as well.
Suckers. The Congo will never learn. First it was diamond’s now this.
Nuclear
Watch the documentary The Planet of the Humans, Michael Moore and Jeff Gibbs. Unbelievable. Just fkn unbelievable. U need to watch it. Ur not gonna find advertising for it. It’s free on utube. It goes beyond just electric cars. Whole forests being chopped down for biomass. Burning trees as an alternative to fossil fuels. Billionaires getting rich. Govts lying. Ugotta watch it. Solar panels. The wonderful alternative that t…fk. Just watch it.
I bet CEOS are rich. Mining should be cleaned up before companies move on if they don’t comply NO NEW CONTRACTS
We have a silicon smelter in Western Australia that consumes large amounts of coal as a reducing agent to produce pure silicon from mined silica. The process also uses charcoal… produced from the logged native forests nearby. The smelter ovens suck a lot of electrical current and must run continuously all day, all week, all month. I’m told that if the power goes out or there’s insufficient supply, the mixture cools & the ovens are a write-off. To generate all that power, they use a nearby coal power plant.
What’s all that silicon used for? Most of it is shipped to Asia to manufacture solar panels.
About sustainable energy is fake.
With all that money available, surely safe mining practices can be implemented to protect people and the local environment?
Once again, China!
“Going green” is first taking care of rivers that we pollute on behalf of “going green.” A toad can’t even survive on the banks of that water.
Anyone who buys into the Propaganda about electric cars needs to work on these mines for a week or two.
This is completely appauling. How are the mining companies allowed to do this in a residential area?
Green is about greed power and control. Its just another hustle to fool the sheeple of the world.
Going green has nothing to do with saving the world and all to do with people making money. Not to mention you have to charge electric cars with electricity which is made by burning coals so it’s a false saviour anyhow.
Sad
Incredible documentary – an eye opener
Coltan in used in smartphones and in batteries for solarcells too. Children rights in west does not exits for children in Congo! China exploit Africa but africans just accept it…While Chinese companies get richer the majority of young africans take their last breath. This must to be stopped!!!
When people say “electric cars are the most environmentally healthy thing ever” I show them this video
Although global warming is a real problem, we need to take time to study new ways to get energy without harming the environment AND the people.
Virtue signaling hypocrites don’t care about the cost.
Damn, this is messed up.
I always knew for instance that organic farming uses more pesticides. Do gooders are the biggest danger on this planet as seen in marxist utopianism and extreme liberalism.
Unfortunately the people who watch these documentaries cannot do much about this on a large scale. I also use mobile phones, laptops and iPads until they die (I still have iPhone 6s and my MacBook Pro is almost 10 years old) so, as an individual, I am very aware of my waste footprint, but we need governments to force everyone to be sustainable. It’s a disgrace that the owners of the mining wells do not do more to protect the people and the environment but is that really surprising, considering the corporate greed culture that seems so prevalent in our society? I will always watch documentaries like this and I am very grateful to the journalists who make them. I wish they could reach the target audience but I am also a realist and so my hopes are very low.
why has this never made it to the mainstream media? such a shame…
Unconditional right to stop our own life whenever we want, for all adults
We are way too many people on earth, don’t let the fulls tell you otherwise! It is reality, and now nature will kill us to create a balance.
This is happening while certain people are becoming billionaires claiming hard work got them where they are today, did they spend hours digging and getting paid nothing? Also people marching claiming we will be 0 emissions by a certain year and we are going green, to whose expense and to whose health while all those tech giants come out with new phones and other gadgets every year and those that claim to care about the environment the same ones that claim they are going green are all to eager to buy new tech that come out every year. Do you think it is just the people this is affecting it will also be affecting the wild animals that have to drink from those polluted rivers and water ways. While some people sit there thinking they are HEROES saving the earth and environment by purchasing these electric cars and buying all the LIES scientists and big tech companies are selling only to benefit themselves this is what you are doing in your quest to save the world and environment you are destroying it even more.
If I could live a life as excess free as they generally do, I’d be a green saint in my community.
This is terrible 😞 lord Jesus
So this is Biden and the Dems are pushing with Green energy agenda . Knew they were crazy. You want to be a part of this…
why eu is not investing ?
Coul is against gods plan go solar panels wend mils🌬fans free energy like the pemerads like the mayas
This is painful i can’t stop my tears Sòòooo painful
Bizarre false consciousness figures like Greta Thunberg was created to aim those people not to aim the big techs of big capitalists. The real green world was born (or will born) like capitalist world: coming out mud and blood, anything less.