1315: Nicolas Niarchos | The Dirty Supply Chain Behind "Clean" Energy

Clean energy has a dirty secret buried deep in the Congo. The Elements of Power (amazon.com/dp/0593492013/?tag=jordanharbing-20) author Nicolas Niarchos is here to pull the supply chain apart link by link.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1315
What We Discuss with Nicolas Niarchos:
• "Clean" energy isn't clean — the cobalt in your phone or EV may have been hand-dug in dangerous DRC mine pits by workers living under near-slavery conditions, earning barely enough to scrape by.
• China processes 70–90% of critical battery metals and owns major mines across the DRC and Indonesia, giving it a stranglehold on the global supply chain that dwarfs OPEC's peak leverage over oil.
• Supply chain audits are largely theater — documents have flagged child labor and dangerous conditions at specific mines, yet production never stopped, and conditions often worsened in the years that followed.
• Communities surrounding DRC mines face heavy metal contamination, mine collapses, and the world's highest rates of congenital birth defects — a catastrophic human toll that's invisible at the point of sale.
• You're not powerless: using your devices longer, raising concerns at shareholder meetings, and pushing elected officials to prioritize ethical sourcing are concrete steps that create real, compounding pressure for change.
• And much more...
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