Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for phasing cobalt out of electric car production and for supporting the manufacture of high purity spherical graphite in the UK.

The Government is aware of the social, environmental and supply concerns surrounding the mining of raw materials, including cobalt, for battery electric vehicles. We expect UK companies to adhere fully with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the FCDO works on strengthening transparency, improving governance, and finding solutions to the complex challenges of extracting cobalt from artisanal mines.

We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) and the Faraday Battery Challenge to support the creation of an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK. Anode Active Material is a strategic priority in scope of the ATF, as part of the upstream supply chain for batteries.