NGOs Oppose a Critical Minerals Agreement With Indonesia
Twenty-one nongovernmental organizations, including Greenpeace, Public Citizen and Plug in America, wrote to the administration to oppose a critical minerals agreement with Indonesia that would allow Indonesian nickel to count toward content requirements in the Inflation Reduction Act for electric vehicle batteries.
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The letter, which came ahead of President Joe Biden's meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Nov. 13, also followed a similar bipartisan letter from nine senators who oppose such a pact (see 2310260056).
The NGOs said that Indonesian nickel mining is clearing biodiverse forests, polluting waterways with tailings, and is using coal energy for processing.
"Building coal plants to support nickel production is putting Indonesia on the path to be the 6th highest climate polluting country in the world -- and threatening to undermine the climate benefits of EVs," they wrote.
They also said environmental defenders and locals affected by mining expansion are being prosecuted for their protests, and that workers at an Indonesian smelter are dying during protests of unsafe working conditions that killed their colleagues.
"Our organizations believe Indonesia can play an important role in driving the global clean energy transition. However, the recent U.S.-Japan [critical minerals agreement] refers to labor rights and environmental protections but is not binding or enforceable. This must not be the model going forward."
The senators said they are concerned about Indonesia's weak labor protections, Chinese dominance of Indonesian mining and refining, biodiversity impacts, waste practices that impact ocean health, lack of community engagement and a significantly higher embedded carbon dioxide footprint over U.S., Australian or Canadian nickel production.