For Mercedes-Benz, respect for human rights is a fundamental component of our activities. In the Raw Materials Report, we report on our activities to respect human rights in raw materials supply chains and our progress within the framework of our sustainable corporate strategy.
In the production of vehicles, we require some raw materials for which there is a risk that they may be degraded or processed under human-rights critical conditions. Monitoring the supply chains of these raw materials is therefore a high priority for us. With our Mercedes-Benz Human Rights Respect System (HRRS) we have developed a due diligence approach to identify and avoid these risks and possible negative effects of our business activities on human rights early on. We will analyze 24 critical raw materials on human rights risks and take measures to reduce risks.
Learn more about our goals here.
Our goal is to ensure that our products contain only raw materials and materials that have been mined and produced without violating human rights and environmental standards. Therefore we acknowledge responsible procurement of production and non-production materials and services. This can only succeed if we create maximum transparency about the upstream stages of the value chain. Due to the complexity of the supply chains and the large number of raw materials and materials in our products, Mercedes-Benz takes a risk-based and strategic approach.
By 2025, we want to assess 70 percent of the 24 raw materials we identify. By 2028, appropriate measures for the prevention, reduction or termination of human rights violations should be defined for all risky raw materials.
The first “Raw Materials Report” will publish the assessments for the first six raw materials aluminum, cobalt, lithium, mica, tin and tungsten. The report will be regularly updated and supplemented with analyses of further raw materials.