TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A US-based advocacy group, Climate Rights International (CRI), released a report titled ‘Nickel Unearthed: The Human and Climate Costs of Indonesia's Nickel Industry’, highlighting that Indonesia’s nickel industry violates human rights and causes severe environmental damage.

A CRI researcher Krista Shennum urged the Indonesian government to ensure that nickel mining, smelting, and all related activities do not lead to serious or preventable environmental damage and other human rights abuses to affected communities, especially indigenous communities.

In the report, Krista said the construction and operation of the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) industrial area and nickel mining areas in Halmahera, North Maluku, devastated the lives of indigenous communities and other rural community members and caused significant harm to the local environment.

“At least 5,331 hectares of tropical forests have been cut in the nickel mining concessions in Halmahera, resulting in the loss of around 2.04 metric tons of greenhouse gases that were previously stored as carbon [in those forests],” Krista said at a press conference in Central Jakarta, January 17.

Another environmental impact is air pollution as the IWIP still uses an off-grid steam power plant or captive coal-fired plants. Locals have also lost access to clean water and their livelihoods as fishermen.

The CRI's report was based on interviews with 45 people living near nickel mines, concessions, or industrial areas. Apart from environmental issues, Krista found indications of human rights violations in the form of land grabbing in the process of land acquisition by the companies.

“There are allegations that security forces came at the early hours of the morning to force residents to sell their land,” she added.

Krista lamented that this was happening in an industrial area where the nickel produced was being sent to electric vehicle battery manufacturers. She mentioned that the transition from oil-fueled vehicles to electric vehicles is a vital part of the energy transition. Therefore, activities that damage the environment should not be part of this movement.

“The global automotive companies that source nickel from Indonesia, such as Tesla, Ford, and Volkswagen, should take steps to ensure that the nickel used in their electric vehicles does not violate human rights and harm the environment,” the CRI researcher stressed.

RIRI RAHAYU

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