Sustainable supply chain

Where does the automotive industry source the cobalt required for batteries? What about Volkswagen?

Nearly two-thirds of the world's cobalt production comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Up to 90% is industrially mined. Volkswagen is aware of the risks to human health and the environment associated with cobalt mining and requires suppliers to meet high standards. In 2006, the Volkswagen Group developed a sustainability programme for supplier relationships. We select our suppliers carefully. They must comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, commit to our code of conduct for business partners and agree to follow the guidelines for conflict resources. They are also required to ensure this commitment is carried over to second and third-tier suppliers.

We subject our first-tier suppliers to a sustainability audit in order to ensure there are no violations of environmental protection, human rights or anti-corruption guidelines. We have also developed a pilot project in cooperation with the tech company Minespider aimed at using blockchain technology to make the supply chain for lead completely transparent. We use digital certificates to trace the raw materials back to their origin. This enables us to optimize the supply chain, eliminate sources of error, and meet social and ecological standards. We are planning to apply this technology to other raw materials in our supply chain.