Indonesia’s Small Islands Pay the Price for Nickel Mining

The push for electric vehicles (EVs) offers a promising path to a cleaner future, but the mining of materials for EV batteries is causing significant harm to Indonesia’s small islands. Nickel, a crucial component of many EV batteries, is at the heart of this issue, driving mining operations that are devastating local ecosystems and communities. Nickel-based batteries, particularly those using Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM), make up 60% of the global EV market, according to the Global EV Outlook 2023. Although alternatives like Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) are becoming more popular, nickel demand remains high. In July 2024, global EV sales surged by 21% compared to the previous year, with Chinese-made vehicles accounting for a large portion of the sales—800,000 units. Indonesia, with 52% of the world’s nickel reserves, has become a central player in the EV supply chain. The country’s nickel exports surged tenfold by 2023, driven by government policies encouraging “downstreaming”—the refining of raw nickel into higher-value products. Most of these exports go to China, which imported nearly four million tons of Indonesian nickel in 2023, while Japan, Australia, and Greece imported much smaller amounts. However, the nickel mining boom is taking a heavy toll on islands like Obi and Wawonii. In Obi, joint mining operations by China’s Lygend Resources and Indonesia’s Harita Group have ravaged forests and contaminated water supplies. Similarly, on Wawonii, an island east of Borneo, mining has brought severe environmental degradation. The island’s once-thriving agricultural and fishing communities now face shortages of clean water and declining air quality. What was once a source of prosperity has turned into hardship as mining companies have moved in. Before mining began, Wawonii’s residents relied on agriculture—growing cloves, nutmeg, coconuts, and cashews—to provide food, income, and educational funds. Fishing was also a vital part of daily life, with abundant catches sustaining the community’s diet. Today, mining dust damages crops, and fishermen must travel farther from shore to find fish, increasing costs