Child miners aged four at Congo cobalt mine | Daily Mail Online
It heralds a future of clean energy, free from pollution but though there can be no doubting the good intentions behind Environment Secretary Michael Gove s announcement last month such ideals mean nothing for the children condemned to a life of hellish misery in the race to achieve his target.
Dorsen, just eight, is one of 40,000 children working daily in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The terrible price they will pay for our clean air is ruined health and a likely early death.
Almost every big motor manufacturer striving to produce millions of electric vehicles buys its cobalt from the impoverished central African state. It is the world s biggest producer, with 60 per cent of the planet s reserves.
The cobalt is mined by unregulated labour and transported to Asia where battery manufacturers use it to make their products lighter, longer-lasting and rechargeable.