JakartaPost-Mar 31, 2023
With the world’s largest reserves of nickel, used extensively in making batteries, Indonesia is aiming to become an electric vehicle powerhouse, not least by courting Tesla CEO Elon Musk. But to attract the investment needed to become an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing hub, experts say Indonesia must avoid past environmental mistakes, when decades of unregulated mining turned parts of its main tin-producing islands into a lunar landscape. In just three years, Jakarta has signed deals worth about $15 billion for battery and EV production, while President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has personally tried to persuade Tesla’s Musk to invest. But questions over environmental and legal safeguards could make investors wary as they seek to safeguard their reputations. Danny Marks, assistant professor of environmental politics and policy at Dublin City University, said mining still faces significant environmental challenges. He cited decades of unregulated tin mining in the Bangka-Belitung islands, off the southeast coast of Sumatra island, that has destroyed forests and coral reefs, leaving piles of white tailings, large craters and acidic, turquoise lakes. “Indonesia should heed the lessons from its tin mining experiences which caused numerous deaths due to mining accidents, was linked to child laboR and permanently scarred the island of Bangka’s landscape,” Marks said in an interview. “EV companies do not want their supply chains to be similarly tainted,” he said. “The Indonesian government must immediately strengthen their environmental safeguards so similar problems won’t arise from nickel mining.” Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2023/03/31/indonesias-electric-vehicle-ambitions-hinge-on-green-mining-drive.html.
