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chrisdh79 OP t1_iyb1lvg wrote

From the article: There is growing evidence that clean energy supply chains throughout the world are linked with modern slavery, according to a new report from Australia’s Clean Energy Council. The report calls attention to Australia’s part in global efforts to stop the problem, despite the country’s relatively small role in the industry, according to a Clean Energy Council press release.

“Australia is on a trajectory to produce the vast majority of our electricity from solar, wind, hydro and batteries by 2030, but it’s important that this shift happens in a way that is fair and equitable,” said Clean Energy Council Policy Director of Energy Generation and Storage Dr. Nicholas Aberle in the press release. “As with many other modern products ubiquitous in everyday life, renewable energy technologies can have long supply chains that are linked at various points to modern slavery.”

Australia’s clean energy industry has encouraged governments and companies to take actions to put an end to modern slavery and forced labor, reported The Guardian.

The report, “Addressing Modern Slavery in the Clean Energy Sector,” has asked for increased local manufacturing and renewable energy production, including a “certificate of origin” program to contend with slave labor concerns in South America, China and Africa.

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BallardRex t1_iyb2d29 wrote

That’s a shame, and as much as possible should be done about it, while still pushing as hard or harder for renewables.

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RonPMexico t1_iyb405d wrote

Technically renewable energy.

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fish-rides-bike t1_iyb48s3 wrote

But as article says, the tie to slavery conditions somewhere along the long supply chain is endemic to all modern products, and is not especially specific to the renewables industries.

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SnooAvocados763 t1_iyb6g23 wrote

Modern Slavery Is a Global Problem in All Most Renewable Energy Supply Chains would be closer to reality

442

basshead17 t1_iyb6meo wrote

>Report brought to you by the oil companies.

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jd52995 t1_iyb9aud wrote

Starbucks doesn't let people unionize either.

1

fred1445 t1_iybcidk wrote

congress is doing the same to rail workers!

1

Load_Altruistic t1_iybe35d wrote

Some of these titles are so misleading. All modern supply chains have tire to forced labor

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awidden t1_iybe3l2 wrote

Can I just draw attention for a second to Clean Energy Council's members:

https://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/membership/current-members

Check the corporate members.

Is it maybe remotely possible that a lot of these companies - maybe even the majority, not sure - aren't working for a clean energy future and trying to discredit clean energy sources?

Maybe this slavery problem isn't quite with the clean energy sector, but something a lot LOT bigger?

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Master-Ad-6411 t1_iybe8f3 wrote

How is modern slavery defined? You got a gun pointed at your head and you cannot leave and get no pay, or you have to work to pay for the living cost but there are no other jobs in the region other than being a miner and carry ore, or assemble electronics in factory.

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TheYokedYeti t1_iybev5i wrote

I hate to break it to people but a lot of your shit is through slave or near slave like labor.

3

LegitimateCopy7 t1_iybf1l3 wrote

no pain, no gain.

so people are obviously going to offload the pain to someone else.

1

DevaconXI t1_iybfeqd wrote

Can you imagine the actual price of commodities if all workers were fairly compensated for their labor. It's as if some people would need to stop earning billions in profit to make it affordable to treat all humans with dignity.

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itchylol742 t1_iybg7ko wrote

Capitalism: Slavery isn't a problem, it's a feature

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Chuckins1 t1_iybghr9 wrote

As many comments have noted, there is no ethical consumption

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KTMan77 t1_iybhxoa wrote

Are humans technically a renewable resource?

1

Tokugawa t1_iybiff8 wrote

Slaves are renewable if you manage them correctly. ^^^/s

1

Person899887 t1_iybjhcj wrote

Also a problem in the oil supply chain.

See: all of the gulf states

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gusfring88 t1_iybjik5 wrote

So hit pieces are what oil companies are paying for with their profits nowadays.

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tommles t1_iybjjwn wrote

Replying to Master-Ad-6411 (#790,794)

Modern slavery and forced labor. Some of the examples in the report are

  • Uyghur and Kazakh people in China.
  • Children in Democratic Republic of the Congo being paid less than $2/day to work in hazardous mines without proper protective equipment.
  • Workers in Ecuador’s Amazon region being subjected to substandard labor conditions and being paid in drugs and alcohol.

It's not chattel slavery, but all of them involve taking vulnerable people and exploiting them .

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Secondary92 t1_iybjwc3 wrote

Replying to SnooAvocados763 (#788,536)

This just smells like the latest campaign cooked up by fossil fuels executives in a boardroom somewhere to muddy public sentiment and to slow down the transition as long as possible to squeeze out every last cent.

Joins a long list of other smokescreens about why renewables aren't perfect yet, despite the problems rarely ever being unique to renewables and at the same time being far, far better than their alternatives.

Not to mention other nonsense like putting the responsibility on general citizens to "reduce their own personal carbon footprint".

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kmap1221 t1_iybkq4c wrote

How credible is this source? I’m not familiar with ecowatch

0

pinkfootthegoose t1_iyblkcb wrote

Here is the short version of the article.

After 10,000+ years slavery is still a problem.

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IcyChard4 t1_iyblnhi wrote

Replying to jd52995 (#789,354)

True. We can also look at Amazon trying to quash unions. I think in society where corporations will always hold people in the neck b/c they know how to feed-off their needs.

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P33ls_on t1_iyblp8j wrote

Finally someone talks about it

−1

Cynical_Cabinet t1_iybn8wd wrote

It's amazing how slavery is only a problem for renewable energy, but the oil industry totally manages to avoid it with their definitely ethical supply chains. /s

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camisado84 t1_iybo8nc wrote

Replying to travelin_man_yeah (#790,040)

I'm going to assume you've never been to China and just hear stories from other people.. because that's not remotely accurate. The foxconn employees are making 13k base salary a year.. with a ton of things americans dont get. Keep in mind the cost to live in shenzen is probably 1/3-1/4 the cost to live in a rando tiny town in the US.

They get overtime at 1.5x after 40, 2x weekends, 3x holidays... paid vacation etc.. lol

https://www.businessinsider.com/foxconn-apple-largest-china-iphone-factory-sign-on-bonus-omicron-cny-2022-1

−11

Maximum_Bear8495 t1_iybrpxx wrote

It’s a problem in all supply chains. Renewable FUD

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I_Am_Frank t1_iybrwrj wrote

Wow yeah I'm sure this is something specific to this one industry and no others. This is as transparent a hit piece as there's ever been.

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Howiebledsoe t1_iybt0kp wrote

Replying to Secondary92 (#792,417)

This is exactly it. Most of all production is marred by slavery somewhere along the line, in pretty much all major industry. Putting the spotlight on green energy without mentioning everything else is clearly setting an agenda. Yes, we need to find a way to abolish all slavery, but many of these people are also the ones who will be most affected by global warming and climate change.

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youmu123 t1_iybu3xz wrote

Replying to fish-rides-bike (#787,981)

Thing is, the vast majority of world labour is free labour, but a product's supply chain is not "slavery free" if even one step has forced labour.

"Forced labour" products are often 99% free labour, 1% modern slavery. That's why modern slavery permeates almost every supply chain even though modern slave workers are less than 1% of the world's workforce.

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NoGoodDM t1_iybv1jy wrote

Yeah, and I bet if we stopped using renewables this second then those slaves would be released. /s

Slavery is a much bigger problem than a single sector, and needs to be eradicated globally.

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krackerbacker t1_iybv3nt wrote

But I thought human labor is renewable energy. ;)

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youmu123 t1_iybvz7y wrote

Replying to tommles (#792,315)

The problem with much of "modern slavery" is often its voluntariness. The voluntariness makes its elimination hard.

"Modern slavery" is not "OG slavery". You can't solve it by "freeing the slaves". They go right back.

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patchmedicine t1_iybyvd7 wrote

Replying to Howiebledsoe (#794,932)

i’m not sure that’s the point of the article. I think the main point is that a lot of these green energy companies claim to be “squeaky clean” and what not, and that’s what attracts a lot of people to their business. for example apple doesn’t advertise its climate impact as part of phone marketing yet electronic bike companies do even those they both use these supply chains to get rare earth metals like lithium for their batteries. I think the point is to draw attention and say hey it’s a good idea but the execution isn’t there yet. But regardless still extremely screwed up how awful some areas are in the world, I hope that changes soon.

−6

hopakee t1_iyc0p9k wrote

Slavery has been fuelling the world since the first slaves. We are just outsourced the ownership to countries that aren’t in our media cycles. Just like we pretend to “green” while Asia and Africa hosts all out dirty industry.

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Cool_83 t1_iyc1vgp wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#794,684)

What government assistance do you believe exists in those countries ? The mine is most likely the most desirable job and pays the highest in the area.

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Cool_83 t1_iyc2491 wrote

Replying to hopakee (#796,869)

As someone else said in this thread, if you set the “slaves” free, they will just return to work the next day. They have nothing else in their lives and the mine salary feeds their families and villages. What is the solution ?

3

ahfoo t1_iyc25vx wrote

Replying to travelin_man_yeah (#790,040)

Keep your eye on the ball here --solar power is uniquely evil. The manipulation is so plain. Apple products? Oh, we wouldn't want to hurt the tech market with tariffs. Solar though? Oh fuck yeah. Democrats and Republicans alike will slap them with tariffs in a heartbeat and tell you that they're made from the kidneys of sex trafficked children etc.

How does this insanity persist? Easy --follow the money. The US is third place after Saudi Arabia and Russia in the list of the world's oil producers. The US military is entirely dependent on oil. The name of the game is oil, oil, oil. Did I mention oil?

The world consumes 88 million barrels of oil per day. Poof! Its goes up in smoke literally and then tomorrow you burn another 88 million barrels. That's about seven billion dollars per day every freakin' day --two, three trillion a year just in revenues at the pump. Global semiconductor revenues are not even 600 billion which is less revenue than insurance. Tech is just a game compared to the oil money.

The only things that can compare to oil in terms of revenue and value are real estate, finance and banking. Tech is a bit player in the global economy but it's sexy so it's in the news all the time. The only time the knives come out is for anything that threatens oil.

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variable2027 t1_iyc3zgw wrote

This thread and responses essentially tells me that no one gives a flying fuck about child slave labor on Reddit, not sure why I’m surprised

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burito23 t1_iyc4b9y wrote

But but climate change!

−2

JDGumby t1_iyc7egs wrote

> Modern Slavery Is a Global Problem in All Supply Chains: New Report

Fixed that for 'em.

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JDGumby t1_iyc7yde wrote

Replying to Dave5876 (#797,166)

> Nuclear Power is the better option.

Yep. The option that poisons 3.8 billion litres of water per day per plant and where we have to store the waste products deep underground in the most geologically-stable areas we can manage and keep under perpetual guard for fear that they get out is obviously the better option.

edit: I see the Nuclear Nuts are still refusing to acknowledge that any part of nuclear power generation other than the emissions might matter.

−16

Cool_83 t1_iyc8blm wrote

Replying to JDGumby (#798,714)

And it was in the last mid term elections, I believe 5 states voted on the subject and 1 decided to keep it for jails inmates. Really is a case of “do as I say and not as I do”.

1

JDGumby t1_iyc8k34 wrote

Replying to Cool_83 (#797,202)

They're referring to Wal-Mart...

> The Arkansas study shows that nearly 4,000 of the companies 45,106 employees are on public assistance, with a vast majority of them receiving Medicaid for their children. Food stamps and transitional employment make up the rest of the public assistance, costing the state $39.6 million per year.

https://www.ufcw.org/press-releases/wal-mart-has-highest-number-of-employees-on-welfare-in-homestate/

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Oddessuss t1_iycclkv wrote

It's also a problem in non renewable energy supply chains....

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cr0ft t1_iycd030 wrote

Modern slavery is a capitalism issue. Not a renewable energy issue.

There are even slaves in America; as soon as you're convicted of a crime, it's a-ok legal to enslave you, and enslave they do in prisons.

In the rest of the world, a number I saw a while back was 27 million actual coerced slaves (in addition to the billions of wage slaves that are financially enslaved) but that number has probably swelled considerably since then.

Capitalism and competition, such a swell way to organize a society.

3

IcyChard4 t1_iycf7k0 wrote

Replying to JDGumby (#798,714)

Pardon for the curiosity, I like to know then...so technically the United States can still own black slaves and have them work on cotton farms like in the past?

1

Human_Anybody7743 t1_iychwic wrote

Is there any actual link for the polysilicon one other than the northwest being the region with good renewable and coal resources? Like what would you even force someone to do to make it?

1

vernes1978 t1_iyck5wh wrote

Replying to JDGumby (#798,647)

Here is a tray of Monster power drink, and 50 bags of Doritos.
I need you to go over Google again.
Make sure what you just said is actually true.
Because there are subtle hints here in this community that you might be...
wrong.

2

JDGumby t1_iyck6bk wrote

Replying to IcyChard4 (#800,409)

The 13th Amendment's abolishment of slavery contains a HUGE exception for prisoners. There's a reason why most of the USA's prison population is black...

1

Loki-L t1_iyckfuv wrote

Replying to Secondary92 (#792,417)

Yes, my home country just made a deal with Qatar or future gas imports and everyone knows that there are no issues with slavery in Qatar.

Unless you happen to buy your oil from Norway you are definitely supporting some human rights violating regime.

Avoiding renewable energy for humanitarian reasons is stupid.

We should definitely work on these issues, but we shouldn't give up on renewables because of that when the alternative is so much worse.

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Pichu_sonic_fan2545 t1_iyckpbu wrote

But don't oil companies abuse poor nations in Africa. Specifically Nigeria

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Hubertus-Bigend t1_iycngr0 wrote

Replying to SnooAvocados763 (#788,536)

Modern slavory is a problem. That’s all that needs to be said. The headline suggests it’s unique to renewable energy supply chains and that’s defies reason. Why exactly died such a study and reporting on it exist? Hmmmm.

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monchota t1_iycsvt1 wrote

If theh are getting paid, they are technically not slaves.

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LongDongFrazier t1_iycucr4 wrote

Always love when the headline is immediately made redundant by the first two paragraphs of the article.

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pdw79 t1_iycyt97 wrote

There is over 2000 billionaires in the world. When will we accept that we are all slaves.

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lightknight7777 t1_iycz1uf wrote

Anything that requires a battery usually does. Phones, computers, even utility energy regardless of renewability.

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Badfickle t1_iyczi0n wrote

Wow. The fossil fuel astroturfing is going all out.

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TonicMorok t1_iyd4hd3 wrote

Thanks for the post, Exxon Mobil.

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ZootedFlaybish t1_iyd7bl6 wrote

I wish everyone would stop working for governments, corporations, and organizations of all kinds, and stop procreating.

1

Panda_tears t1_iyd7jp2 wrote

And you know like… every other sector

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Exact-Permission5319 t1_iydpbwn wrote

Slavery is a problem because corporations are corrupt and governments are complicit. Don't pass this off on consumers like, "oh you can't have renewable energy because of the slavery." FUCK YOU. Fix your supply chains. Take a tiny bit less profit so the world can be a safe place for everyone.

3

MacaroniBandit214 t1_iydqw9q wrote

Replying to patchmedicine (#796,343)

Except the fact that Apple does use their climate impact as a part of advertising. After every announcement they talk about how their production is “on track to be emission free by 2030”

Edit: emission not admission

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Onthetoilet_420 t1_iydwwao wrote

We’ve known this. Where does the lithium for electric cars come from? iPhones too. It’s not as good as they make it sound.

2

lionhart280 t1_iye94ex wrote

Replying to youmu123 (#795,197)

From the article:

> The report noted that China’s Xinjiang region is where 40 to 45 percent of the polysilicon for use in the solar photovoltaic supply chain is sourced, and about 2.6 million Kazakh and Uyghur people have been interned, coerced and subjected to “re-education programs” there, reported The Guardian.

Thats a lot more than "1%"

1

Capncanuck0 t1_iyelfm3 wrote

So let’s remove all subsidies from oil and gas production and move it over to the renewable sector so we can pay them more.

3

iswirl t1_iyemqda wrote

As a consumer what they want me to do with that info? You change the people in charge or make sanctions but no one wants to do that cause $$$. Change is bad for the billionaires.

1

polishlastnames t1_iyf1rfc wrote

Replying to JEEPFAN123 (#811,877)

You’re getting downvoted, but you bring up a legitimate point.

The cost of capital is becoming immense. Every new part requires a new machine, etc. Are we including that in carbon costs for production? Are we really net positive building something high tech that requires hundreds of different supply chains and non renewables, just so there’s no emissions?

I don’t have the answer but I’d like to see an analysis that says it’s a net positive, with a total analysis of all pieces out together, transportation costs (not just for parts, but people having to drive to work, etc). Because only in a truly total analysis can you say it’s a net positive. I think we’re all grasping for straws, especially when a car says “zero emissions” (it should say “zero direct emissions”)

0

Few_Advisor3536 t1_iyf4dd1 wrote

Replying to JEEPFAN123 (#811,877)

Hydrogen fuel cell. Clean, has better milage than standard electric, doesnt require all the lithium that battery vehicles use, service stations can remain in place aswell all the jobs associated with logistics, hydrogen is the most abundant resource on our planet (and off) and theres no 8 hour charge time or extra stress on the electrical grid.

0