What Is A “Sustainable Battery”?

As the market for the electric buses, cars, trucks, and trains that help curb the climate crisis continues to grow globally, the battery supply chain faces increased scrutiny. Minerals like lithium, nickel, graphite, and cobalt are too often mined and processed in ways that contribute to harming communities and ecosystems, while the batteries often face wasteful end-of-life disposal.

To address this challenge and identify solutions, Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) and ClimateWorks Foundation founded in 2022 the Global Forum for Sustainable Batteries, a worldwide network of nonprofit leaders, experts, and advocates committed to transportation electrification and mining justice.

In 2024, the Forum developed a 2040 Sustainable Battery Vision that we’re releasing publicly today, with the aim of guiding policymakers, organizations, companies, and the general public on the key elements of what a truly sustainable battery should be by 2040. The 2040 Sustainable Battery Vision covers all aspects of the supply chain and beyond, including:

• Sourcing of raw and recovered minerals and materials
• Battery manufacturing
• Battery end-of-life
• Battery value chain traceability

The Vision has received the endorsement of leading environmental and mining justice organizations from around the world, along with supportive quotes. You can view the full list of signatories and their quotes here. And if you represent an organization that would like to endorse it as well, please contact me.

Our hope is that pursuing this 2040 Vision will not only benefit affected communities and stakeholders, it holds the promise of ensuring that the world can meet the transportation electrification challenge both more sustainably and rapidly.