This report raises awareness of modern slavery across the clean energy industry and outlines several strategies and actions that the industry can take to eliminate modern slavery from clean energy supply chains.
Renewable energy is the central technology required for the critical task of decarbonising global energy systems. With governments and investors around the world scaling up efforts to tackle climate change, the roll-out of renewable energy is on track for a rapid acceleration.
Beyond decarbonisation, this transformation of the energy sector brings significant job creation and investment. However, in recent years, evidence has emerged linking supply chains for renewable energy products to modern slavery.
While renewable energy is not unique in this regard, it is an issue that the clean energy industry must take seriously.
Addressing Modern Slavery in the Clean Energy Sector aims to raise awareness of modern slavery across the clean energy industry and creates a clear starting point from which the industry can develop effective strategies and actions to eliminate modern slavery from clean energy supply chains.
While the renewable energy industry faces several challenges to finding effective strategies for reducing and ideally eliminating modern slavery from Australia's clean energy supply chain, it is committed to taking action to ensure that the transition to clean energy is a just transition.
Different renewable energy technologies have different points of exposure to modern slavery, from manufacturing of key components to the extraction of critical raw materials. While this is an inherently global problem, Australia and the Australian renewable energy industry must play its part. By addressing Australia’s supply chains, we can contribute to influencing global supply chains.
Carefully considered strategies aimed at reducing or eliminating modern slavery should be developed through collaboration between government agencies, industry and civil society stakeholders. These strategies should also aim to minimise any disruption to the transition to clean energy.
By drawing attention to this issue, we hope to have sparked greater focus on modern slavery across the clean energy sector in Australia and its supply chains across the globe. The industry is committed to addressing and mitigating modern slavery risks across renewable energy operations and supply chains to ensure that the transition to renewable energy is a just transition.
Australia is on a trajectory to produce the vast majority of our electricity from solar, wind, hydro and batteries by 2030, but it’s important that this shift happens in a way that is fair and equitable. Dr Nicholas Aberle, Policy Director of Energy Generation and Storage, Clean Energy Council