Hi all,
As mentioned yesterday, let me try to provide some additional arguments and background here on why and how Fairphone is focussing on more responsible sourcing of minerals. Thanks all who have already provided some valid and valuable comments here!
This forum topic started with the arguments brought up by the colleague of JackHK’s friend:
There are different elements here. “Conflict minerals” is a term used for minerals that are mined and traded with exploitation and interference of armed groups. Over the course of 2002 - 2009, the United Nations Security Council published the first in-depth case studies (e.g. Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that highlighted the devastating relationship between mining and conflict in the DRC which grew the international attention for the term.
In the US, a law was developed - the Dodd Frank Act - which proscribes public listed companies to research the origin of the tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold (3TG) used in their supply chains and declare whether or not there is a chance these originate from the DRC or adjoining countries. As a result, many companies required their suppliers to stop sourcing from the region since it meant additional paperwork and (reputational) risks. To quote the New York Times article (2011) which the colleague of JackHK’s friend cites:
“Unfortunately, the Dodd-Frank law has had unintended and devastating consequences, as I saw firsthand on a trip to eastern Congo this summer. The law has brought about a de facto embargo on the minerals mined in the region, including tin, tungsten and the tantalum that is essential for making cellphones.The smelting companies that used to buy from eastern Congo have stopped. No one wants to be tarred with financing African warlords.” (The New York Times, 2011)
Because of this ‘ban’ on sourcing from the region and the negative consequences for local mineworkers, different initiatives were formed by companies, governments and ngo’s such as the Conflict-Free Tin Initiative (CFTI) and Solutions for Hope. Fairphone became member of these initiatives and supported sourcing tin and tantalum for Fairphone 1 from the DRC. These initiatives make use of the iTSCi traceability scheme, which labels and centrally coordinates the flow of minerals in the region and thereby providing companies a way to source from conflict-free validated mines in the DRC and adjoining countries. Whereas these initiatives kicked off partly because of the negative counter-effects from the Dodd Frank Act, the initiatives in itself also had unintended consequences.
In August 2015, an elaborate evaluation report was published by the Public Private Alliance (PPA) that reviews the effects of these sourcing initiatives in the ground. It is said that they have succeeded in their initial goal of establishing the means and motivation to re-open and responsibly source minerals from the DRC. However, there is also still much work to be done to ensure real social impact at the local level. The key take always mentioned in the evaluation report:
- Demonstrated and communicated “proof of concept” for viability and value of sourcing tin and tantalum from the DRC
- Provided a platform for global-local engagement
- Demonstrated a business case for responsible sourcing of tin and tantalum
- Highlighted misunderstandings and mismatched expectations
- Demonstrated the importance of identification and transparent collection of baseline data
- Offered examples of community partnership and beneficiation
- Highlighted broader challenges relating to ASM and governance
One of the findings that we as Fairphone see as a clear recommendation going forward is that the actual ability of miners to negotiate and set prices is still very limited, for different reasons. This is not living up to expectations of the miners and creates tensions on the ground. For the future success of the project, this is one of the key issues that needs priority attention. For the Fairphone 2, we will continue to work with Scaling Up the Mineral Trade and Solutions for Hope to source tin and tantalum. We believe that it is essential to support initiatives like these, especially to demonstrate to the rest of the industry that more responsible sourcing is possible and very much needed in high-risk areas.
For gold, we have almost all arrangements in place to purchase Fairtrade gold and connect it to the supply chain of Fairphone 2. The last update on gold is here, including a video showing how we travel through the supply chain together with suppliers that want to improve their business practises.
Following up on Emmy:
We have planned a blog post with an update on tungsten coming soon! In short, we are exploring together with the Austrian smelter - who started trading again with the Rwandan tungsten mine that we visited in this video. We want to support this smelter, help stimulate demand for sourcing from the region and are working with our direct suppliers and sub-suppliers who can buy from this smelter for the vibration mechanisms in the Fairphone 2.
There were also some comments to Fairphone here on the amount of transparency and level of involvement of (local) stakeholders. We want to innovate with a creative and collaborative approach which is already quite different from what you see traditionally in the electronics industry. I fully agree there is much more work to be done on mapping and unravelling the supply chain of Fairphone 2, communicate it and engage deeper with the suppliers and sub-suppliers involved. But the only way possible for us and our small team is to do it is step-by-step and take the Fairphone community with us along the journey as much as possible, using blogs, video’s, etc. We are just getting started with Fairphone 2 and there is much more that we will discover and improve in the supply chain so I would encourage you to stay tuned!
I think Pete_Kingsley describes it very well: [quote=“Pete_Kingsley, post:11, topic:11696”]
I see the mining/resource extraction aspects of Fairphone as a way of opening up debate and demonstrating proof-of-concept ideas about alternative ways of doing things. Fairphone is not, and cannot be, a ‘solution’ to the negative aspects of resource extraction - to imagine it to be so is to misunderstand the problem.
[/quote]
A special thanks to JackHK for starting this conversation and putting yourself out there to your friends and others. Being a “Fairphone ambassador” is not always easy ;). Or, in the words of the postcards that are being shipped together with the Fairphone 2: Word of mouth is our most powerful tool, and we consider all Fairphone owners to be our unofficial ambassadors. So make a statement, stand up for what you believe in and spread the word about fairer electronics. Thanks for being part of the movement!
p.s. For the real nerds like me, or just to get an idea of how complex the dynamics at the local level in the mining areas can be - almost 100 juicy university graduation pages on “the contribution of coltan companies in eastern D.R. Congo’s conflict” that I wrote in 2009 right before I joined Fairphone (which at the time wasn’t more than a campaigning idea and the Dodd Frank Act wasn’t implemented yet).