The left-wing Labour Party government in Britain has refused to confirm that it is not using slave labour in its publicly owned green energy project, despite having passed a law last year committing to do so.
The push in the UK to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and replace them with supposedly cleaner forms of energy may be coming with a hefty human toll, with it being unclear if the state-funded Great British Energy (GBE) project is using forced labour in places like China to prop up its so-called renewable sector.
Following pressure from campaigners, after initially baulking at the idea of banning slavery from its key green initiative, the Labour government adopted legislation last year committing GB Energy to ensure its “supply chains are free of forced labour” as it seeks to build a “new energy infrastructure using ethical supply chains.”
However, this week, the government appeared to admit the reality that it is nearly impossible to guarantee that any large-scale purchases of solar panels and other green products are free from slave labour, given the dominance that Communist China has over the industry.
A government spokesman said, per the Daily Mail, that GB Energy has “strict procurement controls in place” for solar panels, but admitted that it could not make any guarantees, only saying that the measures will look to root out forced labour from supply chains “as far as possible”.
The tacit admission of continued reliance on slavery sparked backlash, with Britain’s independent anti-slavery commissioner, Eleanor Lyons, saying: “The race to net zero should never come at the expense of people forced to produce goods in horrendous conditions, working endless hours and under constant surveillance.
“The Government promised taxpayers their money would not fund products linked to forced labour. They should not abandon that commitment.”
However, embracing a green agenda and not relying on slave labour may be easier said than done. As with other green sectors, China has used its considerable state influence to undercut international competition, resulting in the vast majority of solar panels being produced in the communist country.
A report in March from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that China is the “undisputed global leader in the solar industry”. In addition to producing the most solar panels, the country also dominates production of key components, with the CSIS reporting that in 2024, China accounted for 93.2 per cent of global polysilicon production, 96.6 per cent of solar wafers, 92.3 per cent of photovoltaic cells, and 86.4 per cent of photovoltaic modules.
Furthermore, the Chinese solar industry is heavily located in the Western Xinjiang province, where the CCP has been accused of subjecting the local Uyghur Muslim and other ethnic minorities native to the Turkic region to torture, forced abortions, sterilisation, organ harvesting, and slave labour.
A 2021 report by the Bitter Winter human rights magazine found that the majority of China’s polysilicon production comes from its factories in Xinjiang. The paper noted that the factories producing the crucial component for solar panels were “located suspiciously close” to the alleged concentration camps holding imprisoned Uyghurs.
Regardless, British lawmakers have demanded that the government live up to its pledge, with Conservative MP and founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Sir Iain Duncan Smith noting that there was “no caveat” in the law banning slave labour.
Labour MP Sarah Champion added: “My amendment to GBE requires companies taking government contracts to prove there is no modern slavery in their supply chains. Taxpayers deserve this reassurance.”