New data by a global alliance of environmental and human rights watchdogs unveiled, Tuesday, a list of the world’s top automakers ranked based on how clean and ethical their production processes have proved. Mercedes-Benz topped the leaderboard, while Korean companies Hyundai Motor and Kia Motor sat 11th and 14th, respectively.
The rank was released by Lead the Charge, a new global campaign that encourages automakers around the world to operate more transparently in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and catering to workers’ rights. The highlight of the “leaderboard,” as the campaign dubbed the rank, is that it took into account not just how many electric cars or other eco-friendly rides they produce but, much more importantly, how environmentally clean their supply chains are throughout their entire manufacturing processes.
In that regard, Hyundai and Kia received low scores based on data submitted to the alliance group by the subject companies. Assessing its climate and environmental impact, the alliance marked Hyundai nine out of 100 percent. As to how much effort the company made in protecting the human rights of its workers and adhering to its social responsibility, the firm received 13 out of 100 percent. Its total score was 11 percent.
Kia scored six percent overall.
The latest report by Lead the Charge said Hyundai-Kia, now the third-largest automaker in the world, has sold an increasing volume of EVs and claimed it uses sustainable materials but is “missing the bigger picture and opportunity.” It said the Korean firms outperformed the global EV leader Tesla in some areas but has a “host of supply chain issues bubbling up, including child labor at suppliers and a subsidiary in the United States and air pollution from steel manufacturing in Korea.”
The report showed Tesla and Toyota, once known as leaders in fighting the climate crisis with the most outstanding fleet of eco-friendly cars in the global auto market, are behind some of their global competitors. Toyota’s efforts in reducing carbon emissions throughout its supply chains came particularly shorter than those of its rivals with five percent. In the case of Tesla, it was not so much its supply chain for batteries which deducted the points as its supply chains for other parts and its negligence to adhering to workers’ rights.
Julia Pioliscanova, Senior Director of vehicle and e-mobility at Transport and Environment, a European climate NGO specializing in automobiles, said that the transition to “truly clean cars means ditching not only the tailpipe but also the often dirty, abuse-ridden supply chains that came with it.”
“The auto industry is going through a moment of huge industrial transformation as a result of the long overdue transition to electric vehicles,” said Pioliscanova, who led the latest report by Lead the Charge. “This transformation presents automakers with an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild their supply chains so their vehicles are built without fossil fuels, environmental harms or human rights abuses.”
Automakers wield a significant amount of influence and purchasing power in global supply chains. Anna Song, a steel and lead expert from Seoul-based climate non-governmental organization, Solutions for Our Climate, described the leaderboard as a new leverage in shifting steel, aluminum and battery industries away from fossil fuels and towards practices that benefit workers and local communities.
“Lead the Charge’s leaderboard shows exactly which supply chain issues and what timelines are needed for the automakers to demonstrate urgent climate leadership,” said Song, whose NGO is one of the members of Lead the Charge alliance.
Galina Angarova, executive director of another NGO, Cultural Survival, said that Indigenous peoples around the globe have often been victimized by EV manufacturers. Extracting copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium, the key materials for batteries that go into EVs has been affecting their long-standing communities in the territories where the minerals are buried. As long as such practice persists, manufacturing EVs can never be completely eco-friendly, according to advocates of minority groups.
“For decades, auto supply chains have been riddled with climate, environmental and human rights abuses. The EV transition is an opportunity to change that, but so far it’s still business-as-usual for their supply chains, which continues to harm people and the planet,” said Angarova, whose NGO is part of the alliance. “Automakers can stay ahead of the curve by acting now to transform their supply chains and ensure the rights of Indigenous peoples and all rights-holders are respected.”