This human rights due diligence report on EVE Energy was commissioned independently by VIMAB BESS, and Öresundskraft. The analysis relied on online available public information. Globalworks Lund AB conducted the research and authored the report.
The first part evaluates risks of state-imposed forced labour based on government documents, newspaper articles, and business reports. We also use academic articles and policy papers to place our findings in a broader context.
We find that EVE contributes to state-imposed forced labour and land evictions because of upstream operations in Tibetan areas. Through equity ownership, joint operations, and collaborations, EVE’s products are also linked to oppression of ethnic Turkic groups in Xinjiang. Further, collaboration agreements with local governments suggest that EVE is benefitting from poverty alleviation schemes that channel ethnic minorities and registered poor farmers into wage labour. Such labour transfer programs partially rely on economic coercion as a mobilisation strategy.
In the second part, we assess the risk salience of labour and human rights violations at EVE’s manufacturing sites in China. The analysis is informed by social media posts from workers and students, job advertisements, and living wage benchmarks. The analysis shows that workers at lower ranks are forced to make ends meet through performing excessive overtime hours. Workers with higher paygrades must submit to wage schemes that curb overtime pay and render excessive overtime hours inevitable. Student interns must sign vaguely formulated contracts that infringe on rights and interests. Another issue raising concern are dehumanising management practices having a negative impact on mental and physical health.