电池-英文陈述稿

Speech

Every day, we carry batteries in our pockets and rely on them for transport and energy storage. In our view, toxic pollution across the battery life cycle is one of the world’s most serious pollution problems. For today’s vote, we would prioritise uncontrolled battery pollution. Our criteria are harm to children, damage that is difficult to reverse, and the need to prevent future exposure.

First, batteries are different. Lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries and ordinary household batteries do not contain the same materials. Pollution can arise during mining, manufacturing, unsafe recycling and disposal. It can enter air, water and soil. Battery pollution therefore crosses these familiar categories.

Consider Dakar, Senegal. Researchers investigated a cluster of eighteen child deaths between 2007 and 2008 in a community recycling used lead-acid batteries. Their investigation pointed to severe lead poisoning. This is a historical case, not a global death rate, but it shows what uncontrolled recycling can mean for a community.

A Chinese case shows that manufacturing also matters. An official investigation in Deqing in 2011 found elevated blood lead in 332 of 2,152 people tested, mainly workers and their families. These were not all children. Protecting health requires control throughout the chain.

Second, the system is growing. The International Energy Agency reports around twenty-one million electric car sales worldwide in 2025, about one in four new cars. Sales are not waste, and users are not automatically exposed. However, growing demand makes responsible production and future collection more important.

New battery systems also need scrutiny. Research has identified environmental releases of some lithium-battery-related PFAS. Battery fires can produce toxic gases. These findings call for targeted controls, not claims that every battery is equally dangerous.

Carson described life in harmony with nature, disrupted by a strange blight, mysterious maladies and a strange stillness, as birds were silenced. Her warning concerned pesticides. We connect it to batteries as a reminder to examine unintended consequences, not as scientific evidence about batteries.

The strongest objection is that electric vehicles help reduce climate emissions. We agree. Life-cycle research in the European Union supports that benefit. Our proposal is to preserve it while reducing toxic pollution. We also do not claim that batteries kill more people globally than air pollution: the evidence does not establish that ranking.

Governments should enforce producer responsibility and pollution controls. China’s new battery recycling rules took effect in April 2026. The European Union regulates the battery life cycle, while Germany is expanding collection arrangements. Companies should improve design, monitor suppliers and provide traceable recycling. Individuals should extend device life and return batteries through suitable channels.

If we must choose one priority, we choose preventable toxic exposure that can damage children’s futures. The goal is a cleaner battery life cycle, from the mine to the recycling plant.

证据对应

结尾的优先级是本组的价值与政策判断，不是死亡人数第一名的事实断言。