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Cases / Mining · DR Congo · 2024

Cobalt child labour lawsuits against tech firms (DR Congo)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not measured · 2 disputed See the gaps

In March 2024 a US appeals court held that buying cobalt from a global supply chain was not participation in a venture using child labour. A Paris prosecutor also decided not to prosecute in a Congo complaint against Apple.

Sided with the companiesUS appeals court ruling on cobalt purchases and child labour, March 2024
As reported by Reuters via Kitco. The plaintiffs' allegations and the case name are not in the record available.

Status As of the latest record in the file (October 2026): the March 2024 US appeals court ruling went for the companies, the Paris prosecutor decided not to prosecute, and no later ruling was found.

What?
Lawsuits and a criminal complaint over cobalt in technology companies' supply chains. The record available covers a US appeals court ruling in March 2024 and a Paris prosecutor's decision not to prosecute. Kitco
Where?
The harm is alleged to have occurred in DR Congo; the rulings were made by a US appeals court and a Paris prosecutor. Kitco
When?
US appeals court ruling in March 2024; the Paris decision is undated in the record. Kitco
Who?
Gained
  • Technology companies named in the suits — A US appeals court held that buying cobalt from a global supply chain was not participation in a child-labour venture. Kitco
  • DR Congo state budget — The cobalt royalty rose from 2% to 10% under the 2018 mining code. No record was found that this gain reached communities or nature.
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Communities near cobalt and copper mines — Amnesty International reported forced evictions linked to mining expansion. Amnesty International UK
Why?
The US ruling turned on whether buying cobalt from a global supply chain counts as participation in a venture using child labour. Kitco
How?
The court treated purchasing from a global supply chain as not amounting to participation. Kitco
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In March 2024 a US appeals court ruled that buying cobalt from a global supply chain did not amount to participation in a venture using child labour. The report, carried by Kitco from Reuters, was headlined as the court siding with Apple, Tesla and other technology companies. The alleged harm took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

In France, a Paris prosecutor decided that there were no grounds to prosecute in a complaint concerning Apple that had been brought in the name of Congo. Reuters reported the decision; the date is not stated in the record available.

DR Congo's own cobalt policy changed during the same period. The government suspended cobalt exports in February 2025, according to an International Energy Agency policy record, and later set an annual export quota of 96,600 tonnes for 2026 and 2027. The cobalt price nearly doubled between February and October 2025. Under the country's 2018 mining code the cobalt royalty rose from 2% to 10%.

  1. 2018DR Congo mining code raises the cobalt royalty from 2% to 10%
  2. 2023Amnesty International reports forced evictions linked to cobalt and copper mining expansion (September)
  3. 2024US appeals court rules that buying cobalt from a global supply chain is not participation in a child-labour venture (March)
  4. 2025DR Congo suspends cobalt exports (February); the cobalt price nearly doubles by October
  5. 2026Annual cobalt export quota of 96,600 tonnes applies for 2026 and 2027

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Does buying cobalt through a global supply chain amount to participating in a venture that uses child labour?
Courts
US appeals court

Held in March 2024 that purchasing cobalt from a global supply chain was not 'participation' in a child-labour venture.

Kitco
Should the company named in the Congo complaint concerning Apple be prosecuted in France?
Government and regulators
Paris prosecutor

Decided that there were no grounds to prosecute.

Environmental Peacebuilding Association

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • A US appeals court held in March 2024 that purchasing cobalt from a global supply chain was not 'participation' in a child-labour venture.
      Kitco
    • A Paris prosecutor decided not to prosecute in the Congo complaint concerning Apple.
      Environmental Peacebuilding Association
    • DR Congo suspended cobalt exports in February 2025.
      International Energy Agency
    • Amnesty International reported in September 2023 that the expansion of cobalt and copper mining in DR Congo involved forced evictions.
      Amnesty International UK
    • A Financial Times and Lighthouse Reports investigation, with a study in Nature Communications, estimated that DR Congo's cobalt exports from 2000 to 2024 carried more than 2,000 tonnes of natural uranium.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2024-03Defendant won
      US appeals court ruling on cobalt purchases and child labour
      US appeals court (court not named in the record) · Civil · Not stated in the record → Technology companies; the report headline names Apple and Tesla

      The court held that buying cobalt from a global supply chain was not participation in a child-labour venture. The harm occurred in DR Congo. Kitco

    2. No defendant left
      Congo complaint concerning Apple, Paris
      Paris prosecutor's office · Criminal · Congo (complainant as described in the record) → Apple

      The prosecutor decided that there were no grounds to prosecute. The date of the decision and the content of the complaint are not in the record. Environmental Peacebuilding Association

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    US appeals court ruling, March 2024
    For the companies
    Buying cobalt from a global supply chain was not 'participation' in a child-labour venture
    Paris prosecutor, Congo complaint concerning Apple
    No prosecution
    Decision date not stated in the record
    Natural uranium in cobalt exports, 2000–2024
    More than 2,000 t
    Estimate by a Financial Times and Lighthouse Reports investigation and a Nature Communications study

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    Court ruling existsDisplacement reported

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Accounts

    • Disputed Does buying cobalt through a global supply chain amount to participating in a venture that uses child labour?
    • Disputed Should the company named in the Congo complaint concerning Apple be prosecuted in France?

    Record

    • None on record No record was found that the DR Congo state's gain from the higher cobalt royalty reached communities or nature.

    Did the harm stop?

    The record available does not show any change in cobalt sourcing practice resulting from the lawsuits. DR Congo suspended exports in February 2025 and set a quota for 2026 and 2027.

    Who paid?

    The record available does not say who bore the cost of the alleged child labour. Amnesty International reported forced evictions linked to cobalt and copper mining expansion.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers✓ International bodies

    Press and investigations

    Communities and civil society

    International bodies

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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