## Global Battery Alliance Marks Milestone with Harmonized Battery Passports
The world’s leading battery cell manufacturers have achieved a groundbreaking milestone in their quest for a more transparent and sustainable battery industry. Led by the Global Battery Alliance (GBA), ten consortia have successfully completed the largest pre-competitive effort to establish harmonized battery passports. This collaborative initiative, building on the successful 2023 battery passport proof of concept, aims to create a globally standardized system for tracking the origin, flow, and environmental impact of key battery materials.
A Collaborative Effort for Sustainable Battery Value Chains
The consortia, comprising top battery cell manufacturers representing over 80% of the global electric vehicle battery market share, worked closely with seven digital solution providers. Together, they delved into the provenance and flow of seven critical materials: lithium, graphite (artificial), aluminum, cobalt, copper, iron phosphate, and nickel. This collaboration extended across the entire supply chain, from mining companies to refiners, manufacturers, and recyclers, with notable participants including CATL, CALB Group Co. Ltd, LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and more.
Building a Framework for Transparency and Accountability
Based on existing regulations and voluntary standards, the GBA developed seven comprehensive rulebooks through a multi-stakeholder process. These rulebooks address crucial sustainability concerns, including Greenhouse Gas emissions, Environmental and Human Rights Due Diligence, Forced Labour, Child Labour, Biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, and Circular Design. By defining baseline expectations and leading practices, the rulebooks guide companies in addressing risks and sustainability impacts within their supply chains.
Benchmarking and Data Verification for Continuous Improvement
The pilot program provided a valuable opportunity for companies to benchmark their sustainability performance against the stringent requirements of the upcoming EU Batteries Regulation, set to be implemented in 2025. Over 200 sustainability reports were collected, and five pilot participants engaged in independent data verification for the first time. This significant step further establishes the GBA Battery Passport as a credible and trusted source of sustainability indicators.
A Path towards Product-Level Sustainability Certification
The GBA has also introduced a system to score company efforts towards sustainability, paving the way for a potential future product-level sustainability certification. This innovative approach leverages digital product passports for data collection, aggregation, scoring, and verification, providing companies with globally harmonized expectations for reporting and guidance for continuous improvement.
Inga Petersen, Executive Director of the GBA, highlighted the significance of this achievement:
“We are thrilled with the results of the 2024 Battery Passport pilots and congratulate all participating organizations for this major achievement. Having the world’s leading cell manufacturers mobilize their supply chains, work pre-competitively and report on harmonized sustainability expectations represents an unprecedented commitment to greater transparency and sustainability in the battery industry as captured in the 2030 GBA Vision.”Looking Forward: A Global Standard for Sustainable Battery Value Chains
The GBA Battery Passports are set to become a powerful tool for driving sustainability within the battery industry. They provide globally comparable metrics on battery value chain sustainability, enabling informed investment, procurement, and purchasing decisions. In the future, these passports will capture comparable data across more than 20 environmental, social, and governance categories, solidifying their position as a trusted source of information for a more sustainable battery ecosystem.
