Raw material for solar modules through Uyghur forced labor

Following the surprising postponement of the Bundestag decision on a German supply chain law, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) emphasizes the importance of ensuring that German products are not made involving human rights violations. "In many countries that supply to Germany, serious human rights violations are commonplace," criticized Jasna Causevic, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. "In the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, for example, countless members of the Uyghur ethnic group are forced to extract essential raw materials for the solar industry. Without a supply chain law, Germany risks implementing its energy transition at the expense of human rights in China."

Last Friday, a report on the matter was published by researchers from the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University together with the Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region – showing that almost the entire global solar industry uses polysilicon that was produced involving forced labor in Xinjiang / East Turkestan. According to the report, four polysilicon manufacturers are involved in Uyghur forced labor, either through direct participation in forced labor programs or through their raw material procurement. The four largest solar module suppliers in the world – JinkoSolar, JASolar, TrinaSolar, and LONGi – are obtaining their raw materials from at least one of these polysilicon suppliers.

A few days ago, the Scientific Service of the Bundestag published an assessment of the situation in Xinjiang / East Turkestan, emphasizing that German companies with branches in the region should check their entire supply chain in order to rule out forced labor. According to the report, cooperation with Chinese suppliers who use forced labor must have consequences: the contracting companies must investigate the allegations and put pressure on the suppliers to stop practices that violate human rights. If, for example, forced labor cannot be ruled out, it must be considered to end business relationships with the respective suppliers. In extreme cases, company employees could be prosecuted individually.

A supply chain law would oblige companies above a certain size to check their supply chains for human rights violations. Then, companies involved in child labor or forced labor, for example, could no longer be considered as suppliers.