清潔電動(dòng)車與剛果的黑暗現(xiàn)實(shí)

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(dòng)車的背后都有鈷，而鈷的背后有剛果民主共和國(guó)。

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(dòng)車鋰離子電池的關(guān)鍵原料。這類電池已經(jīng)占到鈷金屬消費(fèi)總量的42%，隨著世界從汽油和柴油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)汽車轉(zhuǎn)向電動(dòng)車，需求還將急劇增加。最近英國(guó)效仿法國(guó)，宣布從2040年起禁止銷售汽油和柴油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)車輛。很快，富裕世界幾乎所有人都能在駕車的時(shí)候自鳴得意，以為自己對(duì)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(guò)剛果民主共和國(guó)吧?全世界約60%的鈷來(lái)自這個(gè)中非國(guó)家——它的國(guó)土面積與西歐相當(dāng)，需要解決巨大的問(wèn)題。業(yè)內(nèi)一些分析人士預(yù)計(jì)，到2030年鈷的需求將增長(zhǎng)30倍，其中很大一部分新增供應(yīng)將來(lái)自剛果。僅過(guò)去一年期間，鈷的價(jià)格就翻了一倍。你也許會(huì)想象普通剛果人對(duì)于即將從天而降的財(cái)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么好處——也許除了可能發(fā)生的民兵暴力事件和危險(xiǎn)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(shuō)，你可以在剛果找到元素周期表中的每一種元素。但豐富的資源并沒(méi)有給剛果人民帶來(lái)太多好處。全球見(jiàn)證(Global Witness)最近一份報(bào)告發(fā)現(xiàn)，2013年至2015年期間礦業(yè)公司支付給政府機(jī)構(gòu)的約7.5億美元稅費(fèi)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(guān)于剛果總統(tǒng)約瑟夫•卡比拉(Joseph Kabila)——他的家族把持著80個(gè)業(yè)務(wù)領(lǐng)域——的報(bào)告，提供了關(guān)于這些錢的一部分可能流向何處的線索。剛果人沒(méi)能從豐富的礦產(chǎn)資源中獲得好處，反而是地球上最貧困的群體之一，人均收入僅800美元。這足以讓具有社會(huì)意識(shí)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(wèn)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年成為比利時(shí)國(guó)王利奧波德二世(Leopold II)的私人殖民地以來(lái)，這個(gè)國(guó)家一直遭受著暴政的統(tǒng)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(dāng)成奴隸，在掠奪該國(guó)資源——在第一場(chǎng)汽車繁榮中主要是用于制造輪胎的橡膠——的過(guò)程中導(dǎo)致數(shù)百萬(wàn)剛果人死亡，還砍掉那些被認(rèn)為動(dòng)作遲緩的勞工的四肢。1960年，滿目瘡痍的剛果獲得獨(dú)立。比利時(shí)人、法國(guó)人和英國(guó)人——他們希望繼續(xù)控制銅和鈷礦豐富的加丹加省(Katanga)——試圖讓該省獨(dú)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(dāng)獨(dú)立計(jì)劃失敗后，西方全力支持蒙博托•塞塞•塞科(Mobutu Sese Seko)——他的反共招牌使他成為了西方的盟友。為了回報(bào)蒙博托的支持，西方政府選擇忽視他的“瑕疵”：其中包括掠奪這個(gè)國(guó)家，這對(duì)于剛果人是不幸的。

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年后，蒙博托倒臺(tái)了。但是，勾結(jié)精英階層一起剝奪公民與生俱來(lái)的權(quán)利的政策得到延續(xù)。西方投入數(shù)十億美元維和并提供援助。但外國(guó)礦業(yè)公司采掘了價(jià)值更高的黃金、鉆石、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(wú)意，在剛果經(jīng)營(yíng)的大型礦商為這種制度化的掠奪提供了資金。在他們所宣稱的企業(yè)責(zé)任、世界級(jí)礦區(qū)、經(jīng)過(guò)核實(shí)的供應(yīng)鏈和環(huán)保意識(shí)背后，是一種不同的現(xiàn)實(shí)：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(yīng)商嘉能可(Glencore)之類的企業(yè)對(duì)其工業(yè)礦區(qū)執(zhí)行的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，可能高于作坊式礦區(qū)——后者遍布礦山，包括童工在內(nèi)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愿，外界也很難查明來(lái)自作坊式礦區(qū)的鈷是否進(jìn)入了復(fù)雜得令人頭暈的供應(yīng)鏈——涉及剛果礦區(qū)的鈷，在中國(guó)進(jìn)行冶煉和銷售，最終以筆記本電腦或電動(dòng)車部件的形式來(lái)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(jīng)加入了讓這條供應(yīng)鏈更加光明的行動(dòng)。另外一組企業(yè)則宣布有意擴(kuò)大監(jiān)測(cè)錫、鎢、鉭和黃金等“沖突礦產(chǎn)”的一個(gè)機(jī)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(guò)，即使驗(yàn)證供應(yīng)鏈也不是一種無(wú)痛苦的解決方案。當(dāng)美國(guó)一項(xiàng)法律于2010年生效、要求企業(yè)聲明是否有暴力集團(tuán)從礦產(chǎn)中獲利時(shí)，很多企業(yè)干脆抵制剛果礦產(chǎn)，使得數(shù)十萬(wàn)個(gè)作坊式礦工失去生計(jì)。確保剛果普通民眾真正受益于他們腳下的財(cái)富，是一個(gè)極為復(fù)雜的課題。但這對(duì)那些發(fā)明了電動(dòng)車的聰明人來(lái)說(shuō)，應(yīng)該不成問(wèn)題。