清潔電動車與剛果的黑暗現實

Behind every clean electric car there is cobalt. And behind cobalt is the DeMocratic Republic of Congo.

每一輛清潔的電動車的背後都有鈷，而鈷的背後有剛果民主共和國。

Cobalt is a critical element in lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars. Such batteries already consume 42 per cent of the metal and demand will soar as the world switches from petrol and diesel cars to electric ones. This week, Britain followed France in declaring a ban on such vehicles from 2040. Soon, almost anyone in the rich world will be able to drive safe in the knowledge that they’re being kinder and gentler to the planet.

鈷是電動車鋰離子電池的關鍵原料。這類電池已經佔到鈷金屬消費總量的42%，隨着世界從汽油和柴油發動機汽車轉向電動車，需求還將急劇增加。最近英國效仿法國，宣佈從2040年起禁止銷售汽油和柴油發動機車輛。很快，富裕世界幾乎所有人都能在駕車的時候自鳴得意，以爲自己對地球更友善更溫和了。

Did I mention the Democratic Republic of Congo? Some 60 per cent of the world’s cobalt comes from this central African country, one the size of western Europe and with gargantuan problems to match. Some industry analysts are predicting a 30-fold increase in cobalt demand by 2030, much of which will come from Congo. Cobalt prices doubled in the past year alone. You might imagine the average Congolese would be thrilled by the prospect of the coming bonanza. But if history is any guide, the average Congolese will gain little — save perhaps from militia violence and perhaps a dangerous, poorly paid job.

我提到過剛果民主共和國吧？全世界約60%的鈷來自這個中非國家——它的國土面積與西歐相當，需要解決巨大的問題。業內一些分析人士預計，到2030年鈷的需求將增長30倍，其中很大一部分新增供應將來自剛果。僅過去一年期間，鈷的價格就翻了一倍。你也許會想象普通剛果人對於即將從天而降的財富感到振奮。但如果歷史可以提供指引的話，那就是剛果人將得不到什麼好處——也許除了可能發生的民兵暴力事件和危險的低薪工作。

In Congo, they say, you can find every element in the periodic table. But this abundance has not done its people much good. A recent report by Global Witness found that 30 per cent of revenue paid to state bodies by mining companies from 2013 to 2015 — about $750m — simply vanished.

有人說，你可以在剛果找到元素週期表中的每一種元素。但豐富的資源並沒有給剛果人民帶來太多好處。全球見證(Global Witness)最近一份報告發現，2013年至2015年期間礦業公司支付給政府機構的約7.5億美元稅費有30%不知所蹤。

A separate report about Joseph Kabila, the president, whose family dominates 80 lines of business, gives a clue as to where some of it might have gone. Instead of benefiting from its vast mineral wealth, Congolese are among the poorest people on the planet, with a per-capita income of $800. It is enough to give the socially conscious Tesla driver sleepless nights.

另一份關於剛果總統約瑟夫?卡比拉(Joseph Kabila)——他的家族把持着80個業務領域——的報告，提供了關於這些錢的一部分可能流向何處的線索。剛果人沒能從豐富的礦產資源中獲得好處，反而是地球上最貧困的羣體之一，人均收入僅800美元。這足以讓具有社會意識的特斯拉(Tesla)車主難以安睡。

Does it have to be like this? Resources are hard to cope with even if you have the best institutions. This is not a description that can be applied to Congo. The country has been horribly misruled since it became the personal colony of King Leopold II of Belgium in 1885.

這種局面是剛果的歷史宿命嗎？資源問題是很棘手的，即使你有最好的制度也是如此。而這種描述不適合剛果。自1885年成爲比利時國王利奧波德二世(Leopold II)的私人殖民地以來，這個國家一直遭受着暴政的統治。

He used the Congolese as slaves, hounding millions to death and chopping off the limbs of those deemed too tardy in stripping the country of its natural wealth — mainly rubber used for tyres in the first auto boom. In 1960, a brutalised Congo won independence. The Belgians, French and British — hoping to maintain control over copper and cobalt-rich Katanga province — unsuccessfully tried to engineer its secession.

他把剛果人當成奴隸，在掠奪該國資源——在第一場汽車繁榮中主要是用於製造輪胎的橡膠——的過程中導致數百萬剛果人死亡，還砍掉那些被認爲動作遲緩的勞工的四肢。1960年，滿目瘡痍的剛果獲得獨立。比利時人、法國人和英國人——他們希望繼續控制銅和鈷礦豐富的加丹加省(Katanga)——試圖讓該省獨立的努力失敗了。

When that failed, the west threw its weight behind Mobutu Sese Seko, a leader whose anti-Communist credentials made him an ally. In return for Mobutu’s support, western governments ignored his peccadilloes: which, sadly for the Congolese, involved plundering the country.

當獨立計劃失敗後，西方全力支持蒙博託?塞塞?塞科(Mobutu Sese Seko)——他的反共招牌使他成爲了西方的盟友。爲了回報蒙博託的支持，西方政府選擇忽視他的“瑕疵”：其中包括掠奪這個國家，這對於剛果人是不幸的。

After three decades, Mobutu fell. But the policy of colluding with Congo’s elite to strip ordinary citizens of their birthright has gone on unabated. The west has poured in billions in peacekeeping and aid. But foreign mining companies have extracted billions more in gold, diamonds, tin, coltan, copper and cobalt.

30年後，蒙博託倒臺了。但是，勾結精英階層一起剝奪公民與生俱來的權利的政策得到延續。西方投入數十億美元維和並提供援助。但外國礦業公司採掘了價值更高的黃金、鑽石、錫、鈳鉭鐵礦、銅和鈷。

Wittingly or unwittingly the big miners operating in Congo have helped fund this institutionalised looting. Behind their claims of corporate responsibility, world-class mines, verified supply chains and environmental care lies a different reality: poverty, violence and toxic pollution.

不管有意還是無意，在剛果經營的大型礦商爲這種制度化的掠奪提供了資金。在他們所宣稱的企業責任、世界級礦區、經過覈實的供應鏈和環保意識背後，是一種不同的現實：貧窮、暴力和有毒污染。

Industrial mines operated by the likes of Glencore, the world’s biggest cobalt supplier, may have better standards than the artisanal mines that pock the landscape, where labourers, including children, often work in the most wretched conditions. With the best will in the world, it is hard to verify whether cobalt from these mines is entering a supply chain of dizzying complexity, which may involve mines in Congo, smelting in China and sale, as part of a laptop or electric car, in Los Angeles or London.

全球最大的鈷供應商嘉能可(Glencore)之類的企業對其工業礦區執行的標準，可能高於作坊式礦區——後者遍佈礦山，包括童工在內的勞工往往在最悲慘的條件下工作。即便抱有世界上最好的意願，外界也很難查明來自作坊式礦區的鈷是否進入了複雜得令人頭暈的供應鏈——涉及剛果礦區的鈷，在中國進行冶煉和銷售，最終以筆記本電腦或電動車部件的形式來到洛杉磯和倫敦。

Companies such as Apple, HP and Samsung have joined an effort to bring more light to the supply chain. Another group has announced its intention to expand a scheme that monitors the “conflict minerals” of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold.

蘋果(Apple)、惠普(HP)和三星(Samsung)等公司已經加入了讓這條供應鏈更加光明的行動。另外一組企業則宣佈有意擴大監測錫、鎢、鉭和黃金等“衝突礦產”的一個機制。

Yet even verifying the supply chain is not a painless solution. When US legislation came into force in 2010, requiring companies to declare whether violent groups were profiting from minerals, many simply boycotted Congo as a supplier, throwing hundreds of thousands of artisanal miners out of work. Ensuring that ordinary Congolese people actually benefit from the riches beneath their feet is a devilishly complex business. But it should not be beyond the wit of the same clever people who invented the electric car.

不過，即使驗證供應鏈也不是一種無痛苦的解決方案。當美國一項法律於2010年生效、要求企業聲明是否有暴力集團從礦產中獲利時，很多企業乾脆抵制剛果礦產，使得數十萬個作坊式礦工失去生計。確保剛果普通民衆真正受益於他們腳下的財富，是一個極爲複雜的課題。但這對那些發明了電動車的聰明人來說，應該不成問題。