Human Rights Now (HRN), an international human rights NGO, has conducted a research study on human rights issues in the nickel supply chain used for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as well as the responses of Japanese companies and the Japanese government.<\/p>\n
As the global transition toward carbon neutrality accelerates, the adoption of electric vehicles has expanded rapidly in recent years. Consequently, demand for nickel, a key raw material used in EV batteries, has also increased significantly worldwide. At the same time, serious human rights concerns have been reported in nickel mining and refining operations, including land grabbing, environmental degradation, violations of the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples, and infringements on workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
Based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), this report examines and analyzes human rights risks within the nickel supply chain and evaluates the responses of Japanese companies and the Japanese government. A questionnaire survey was conducted targeting 11 Japanese automobile manufacturers and trading companies. For the automobile manufacturers, the report analyzes both questionnaire responses and publicly available information from the perspectives of human rights due diligence, grievance mechanisms, supply chain management, and stakeholder engagement.<\/p>\n
The survey received responses from 4 of the 11 target companies. To enhance transparency, the original responses in Japanese submitted by participating companies are also published at the bottom of this webpage.<\/p>\n
The findings reveal that significant challenges remain for most automobile manufacturers in addressing nickel-specific human rights risks, ensuring supply chain transparency, and establishing effective remedy mechanisms accessible to workers and local communities affected by mining operations.<\/p>\n
The report also finds that although the Japanese government has adopted the Guidelines on Respecting Human Rights in Responsible Supply Chains, implementation remains largely voluntary for businesses. Japan has yet to establish legislation mandating human rights and environmental due diligence. Furthermore, the country still lacks an independent National Human Rights Institution responsible for monitoring and providing remedies for human rights violations.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, the report recommends that the Japanese government introduce mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence in line with international human rights standards, establish an independent National Human Rights Institution, ratify ILO Convention No. 169, and strengthen related legal and institutional frameworks. The report also calls on Japanese companies to strengthen human rights commitments at the management level, conduct human rights risk assessments specifically tailored to mining and mineral sourcing, establish effective grievance mechanisms accessible to workers and local communities, and enhance ongoing dialogue and collaboration with stakeholders, including NGOs and local communities.<\/p>\n
The transition to a decarbonized society should not come at the expense of human rights. HRN hopes that this report will contribute to advancing discussions on responsible resource sourcing by Japanese companies and the Japanese government, and support the realization of a just and sustainable energy transition through appropriate responses to human rights risks in the nickel supply chain.<\/p>\n
Download the Report: \uff1cEnglish<\/a>\uff1e \uff1cJapanese<\/a>\uff1e<\/p>\n Questionnaire Responses<\/p>\n \u2022 Subaru Corporation<\/a> \u3010Report\u3011In the Shadow of \u201cGreen\u201d EVs: Human Rights Challenges in the Nickel Supply Chain and the Obligations of the Japanese Government and Responsibilities of Japanese Companies\u2014Toward a Just Transition Human Rights Now (HRN), an international human rights NGO, has conducted a research study on human rights issues in the nickel supply chain used for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as well as the responses of Japanese companies and the Japanese government. As the global transition toward carbon neutrality accelerates, the adoption of electric vehicles has expanded rapidly in recent years. Consequently, demand for nickel, a key raw material used in EV batteries, has also increased significantly worldwide. At the same time, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,4],"tags":[143],"countries":[248],"class_list":["post-8641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-information","category-report","tag-business-and-human-rights","countries-japan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8641"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8651,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8641\/revisions\/8651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8641"},{"taxonomy":"countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/countries?post=8641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.<\/a>
\n\u2022 Honda Motor Co., Ltd.<\/a>
\n\u2022 Mitsubishi Motors Corporation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"