Swiss-based commodities trading and mining major Glencore said it would join the world’s first battery proof of concept established by the Global Battery Alliance. The alliance launched the proof of concept for its battery passport at the World Economic Forum, as part of its aim to develop a sustainable battery value chain by 2030. The prototype battery passports include example data from Audi and Tesla and their suppliers relating to the battery’s technical specifications, material provenance, and reporting against key sustainability performance indicators.

“We spearheaded the first pilot passport leveraging the ReSource platform in collaboration with Glencore’s Kamoto Copper Company SA, LG Energy Solution and Tesla,” Glencore said in a media release.

“As the world seeks to address climate change, minerals are set to play a pivotal role in decarbonizing energy consumption and mobility. At the same time, society’s expectations with respect to environmental and social performance of companies continue to increase.”

The sustainability performance indicators include partial reporting of the battery’s carbon footprint, and child labour and human rights performance, according to rulebooks developed by members of the Global Battery Alliance for select materials, as well as information on the data collection across different steps of the value chains.

After the launch, the Global Battery Alliance said in a media statement that by establishing this proof of concept, the group and its members are demonstrating how, by putting this data in the hands of end-users, the Passport will enable customers to make more informed purchasing decisions and drive sustainable sourcing, processing and manufacturing practices in the industry in the future.

The battery passport proof of concept has been developed over three years by the alliance’s members, including companies from global battery value chain from the mine to recycling, including Audi, BASF, CATL, Eurasian Resources Group, Glencore, LG Energy Solution, Umicore, Tesla, Volkswagen, and IT solution providers as well as leading non-governmental and international organizations including IndustriALL Global Union, Pact, Transport & Environment, UNEP, UNICEF and others, with the support of government institutions like the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and Natural Resources Canada.