The E-Waste Column no. 198

5 days ago
3 min read

Today’s column explores potential adverse social impacts from an infrastructure project planned by the EU and the U.S. to acquire critical minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

🌱 What is planned?

To secure copper, cobalt, and other critical minerals, the EU and the U.S. are funding a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project in the DRC. The project – referred to as the Lobito Corridor – “aims to upgrade the colonial-era Benguela railway from the DRC to Lobito on Angola’s coast and improve port infrastructure, as well as building a railway line to Zambia and supporting agriculture and solar power installations along the route”. The south of the DRC has significant copper and cobalt mines, and it has seen a 600% increase in cobalt production over the past three decades. The planned infrastructure project aims to transport these minerals – and potentially others from northern Zambia – to the port of Lobito in Angola, where they can then be exported.

🌱 What adverse social impacts could the project have?

According to Global Witness, the current plans may lead to up to 1200 buildings being demolished and up to 6500 people being displaced. This is mostly “due to the planned rehabilitation of the stretch of railway from the Congolese mining city of Kolwezi to the Angolan border”. In the Bel Air neighborhood of Kolwezi, many poorer residents built houses and businesses very close to the railway line, which has been mostly out of use since the 1980s. Residents have told Global Witness that they now fear being evicted forcibly without any compensation and that officials have even demolished houses while people were still living in them. In this context, it is worth noting that “Bel Air lacks drinking water and many of its inhabitants survive by digging for minerals by hand”.

🌱 Does DRC law protect residents?

While the Lobito Corridor project is designed to facilitate mineral exports, it is not covered by the DRC’s Mining Code but instead appears to fall under the DRC’s Law of Expropriation for Public Utility. While the Mining Code would “requir[e] mining companies to provide displaced people with a higher standard of living elsewhere”, the Law of Expropriation for Public Utility “requires only that those displaced be paid compensation”. Several residents have, however, even “claimed to have been left without payment when the state used the expropriation law to clear the way” for new roads and mines.

🌱 Does international law protect residents?

The EU is running “a full feasibility study and detailed technical design, which also includes an independent environmental and social impact assessment study” for the project in line with its own ESG investment standards. It is also worth noting that, under international human rights law, there are “clear safeguards in the case of evictions and expropriation, such as genuine consultation and reasonable notice”.

🌱 Why may evictions be problematic even if compensation is paid?

According to a 2023 study from Amnesty International, the problem with mining-related evictions in the DRC is “that displaced people who were compensated rather than resettled were often forced to move to peripheral areas that lacked running water, schools and other amenities, causing their living standards to plummet”. In Kolwezi, where most of the evictions under the Lobito Corridor project are expected to happen, “finding an affordable home is not easy” and therefore the evictions are likely to cause significant issues.