TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Southeast Asian lawmakers urge govt, region to consider nickel mining impacts
As the world moves toward electric vehicles (EVs) whose production requires a high number of rare earth metals, it is important Indonesia and other countries ensure their mining practices comply with the environmental and social standards, Southeast Asian parliament members have said.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Nickel smelting plants at work at the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Lelilef, North Maluku, on July 7, 2024. (AFP/Azzam Risqullah)
P
arliamentarians across Southeast Asia called on the Indonesian government and other countries in the region to take a more serious look at the costs of mining activities on the environment and indigenous communities, amid a nickel industry boom.
As the world moves away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, rare earth minerals like nickel are important components of devices that support the energy transition.
Nickel, one of the key components of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), which are claimed to be cleaner than those run on internal combustion engines (ICE), has become the new “oil”, particularly in Southeast Asia, as the region is becoming a major supplier of the rare earth mineral.
According to consulting firm Global Data, Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer with reserves of 21 million tonnes, or 20 percent of the global total. The country produced 1.7 million tonnes in 2022. Other nickel producers and exporters in Southeast Asia include the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
But the skyrocketing nickel production in recent years has come at the expense of the environment and indigenous communities, prompting Southeast Asian lawmakers to warn Indonesian policymakers to look seriously at the hazards and balance the objectives between the energy transition and protecting the region’s remaining forests.
The warning was conveyed during an international parliamentary inquiry on climate change in Southeast Asia held by the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta on Monday.
Read also: New tracking system to prevent fraud in nickel, tin mining
