"Human and Labour Rights Violations at BYD, CATL and EVE Energy: A comparison", February 2024

In this short report we compare findings from two reports, “Human rights risks behind electric buses in Swedish public transportation” and “Human and labour rights violations at EVE Energy in China”, on three battery manufacturers in China: BYD, CATL, and EVE. This comparison highlights shared human rights risks and identifies industry-wide risk patterns...

BYD and EVE feature almost identical patterns with respect to state-imposed forced labour risks. Both companies have business operations in the same Tibetan areas, are involved in labour transfers originating from Zone III areas, and maintain relationships with business organisations in Xinjiang. CATL shares with BYD and EVE links to Xinjiang but has no business operations in high-risk regions and there is no information pointing towards the company’s involvement in labour transfers. Hence the emerging risk patterns display strong overlaps and substantial variation at the same time.

In terms of human and labour rights risks, BYD, CATL, and EVE show remarcably similar risk patterns. However, there are variations in terms of how practices are enforced. In addition, there may be scale differences that are difficult to discern with the data that we collected. Nevertheless, the reports underlying this comparison provide detailed information on rules and practices undergirding human rights violations. Through these insights, it is possible to recognize the interdependence of adverse impacts and advance human rights due diligence by considering all aspects of rule change.