{"id":617780,"date":"2022-04-22T10:45:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T10:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=567881"},"modified":"2022-04-22T10:45:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T10:45:00","slug":"european-electric-car-makers-have-a-russian-nickel-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/04\/22\/european-electric-car-makers-have-a-russian-nickel-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"European electric car makers have a Russian nickel problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
About two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, a metal that plays a key role in batteries for electric vehicles, or EVs, was thrust suddenly into the spotlight. On March 8, the price of nickel doubled within hours<\/a> on the London Metal Exchange, prompting the world\u2019s leading metals market to shut down trading for the material. The price spike occurred amidst fears that nickel from Russia, the world\u2019s third-largest producer of the metal, would soon become \u201cuntouchable due to sanctions risk<\/a>,\u201d as one group of analysts put it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More than a month later, the hypothetical sanctions that helped fuel metals market chaos have yet to materialize. And an emerging supply chain that connects Russian nickel with the European EV market \u2014 most notably through a partnership between mining giant Nornickel and German chemical company BASF<\/a> \u2014 remains intact for now. But the war in Ukraine, and Russia\u2019s totalitarian crackdown on dissenting voices, have major implications for that supply chain as well as an Indigenous-led movement for environmental justice that targets Nornickel\u2019s polluting practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the European EV industry, the situation raises difficult ethical questions and highlights the competing demands of geopolitical, social, and environmental responsibility in a time of war. In recent weeks, Germany has come under growing pressure to sever more of its economic ties with Russia<\/a> in order to punish Putin for his brutal war in Ukraine. But if the nation were to ban imports on Russian nickel, an industry that is essential to Europe meeting its climate goals, it would have to scramble to secure new sources of a critical raw material. At the same time, Russian Indigenous activists fear they would lose one of the few levers they have for holding Nornickel accountable: its relationships with Western companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a situation of contradictory demands,\u201d said Tilman Massa, a member of the Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany<\/a>, an NGO that campaigns for environmental protection and human rights due diligence at German corporations. On the one hand, Massa says, companies are facing intense public pressure to cut ties to Russian business. \u201cOn the other hand, we now have leverage to increase the pressure on Nornickel to improve the situation on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n