NGOs: Environment fears over $6 bn Indonesia EV battery project
Indonesia is both the world's largest nickel producer and home to the biggest-known reserves, and a 2020 export ban has spurred a domestic industrial boom.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will inaugurate the project — also backed by China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Indonesia's state-owned Antam — in the east of Halmahera in Indonesia's Maluku islands on Sunday.
The complex will encompass a process from nickel mining to production of cathodes, state news agency Antara reported.
But NGOs say Indonesia and the Chinese firms involved have not given assurances about environmental protections at the site, located just kilometers from a huge industrial park where spikes in pollution and deforestation have been reported.
'CATL, Huayou Cobalt, PT Antam... must commit to respecting the rights of local communities and the environment before breaking ground,' said Brad Adams, executive director at Climate Rights International, in a statement.
'Communities are repressed, forests are cleared, and pollution goes unaddressed with impunity. This is a chance for the Prabowo government to show that it has learned from those failures.'
The presidential office did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Halmahera hosts the world's largest nickel mine by production Weda Bay, where operations have grown and sparked reports of widespread environmental damage.
Greenpeace Indonesia said the new project carried 'great responsibilities' and the environment and locals 'must not take a back seat' to powering electric vehicles.
'If the environment and the rights of our most vulnerable people are not prioritized now... we will all pay a high price through worsening biodiversity and climate crises,' Arie Rompas, forest campaign team leader at Greenpeace, told AFP.
A CRI report this month warned the Indonesian government was allowing environmental damage to go unchecked around Weda Bay.
An AFP report last month detailed how the home of the nomadic Hongana Manyawa tribe was being eaten away by the mine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Pakistan launches major electric vehicle push, targets students and unemployed
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani federal government is targeting students and unemployed individuals in a major scheme to promote the use of electric vehicles, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Friday, saying the move will save billions of dollars in fuel imports, help protect environment and promote local industry. The prime minister said this while presiding over a meeting in Islamabad to review promotion of electric vehicles in the country and the government assistance in acquisition of electric bikes, rickshaws and loaders, according to Sharif's office. The proposed scheme comes amid the cash-strapped South Asian country's efforts to avoid costly oil imports that shrank five percent to $15 billion from July 2024 till May 2025, according to latest official figures. Islamabad is currently trying to formulate a plan to make electric vehicles accessible to people. Officials briefed participants of Friday's meeting that steps were being taken to enable people to acquire electric bikes, rickshaws and loaders through low-cost loans and the government will assist provision of more than 100,000 electric bikes and 3,000 rickshaws and loading vehicles. 'The federal government, including the federal board, will provide electric bikes to the toppers of boards across the country,' Sharif was quoted as saying. 'The government will provide electric rickshaws and loaders to unemployed people for employment on a priority basis.' Under the scheme, which is likely to be launched soon, free electric bikes will be provided to students who have shown exceptional performance at the intermediate level in educational boards across the country, according to Sharif's office. A special quota of 25 percent has been kept for women, while the quota of provinces has been allocated in proportion to the population. Pakistan last month unveiled a new Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy 2025–2030, which targets 30 percent of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030. The policy, which covers cars, buses, motorcycles and rickshaws, aims to accelerate the country's shift toward sustainable transport, reduce fossil fuel dependence, and curb climate-warming emissions. Sharif instructed officials to ensure a complete ecosystem for the production and maintenance of electric vehicles in the country, preferring people belonging to the economically weaker section in the government's scheme. 'Third-party validation should be done for the entire mechanism of distribution of electric vehicles and government assistance in it,' he said. Officials informed the meeting's participants that four new battery manufacturing companies are starting their operations in the country, which will create new business opportunities and employment in Pakistan. 'The prime minister instructed [officials] to ensure that the electric bikes, rickshaws and loaders provided in the proposed scheme meet the best quality and safety standards,' Sharif's office said.
Arab News
13-07-2025
- Arab News
EU and Indonesia announce ‘political agreement' on trade deal
BRUSSELS: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday announced a 'political agreement' to conclude a long-awaited free trade deal, as US leader Donald Trump upends global commerce. 'We're living in turbulent times and when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must come closer together. So today we're taking a big step forward in this partnership,' von der Leyen told journalists in Brussels. 'I am very pleased to report that we have just reached a political agreement on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement.' The 27-nation European bloc and Southeast Asia's largest economy have been negotiating since 2016 to agree a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment. A European Commission statement called Sunday's agreement a 'decisive milestone' toward striking the deal — which is to be concluded in September by EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Indonesia's chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto. 'There's a lot of untapped potential in our trade relationship. And therefore this agreement comes at the right time, because the new agreement will open new markets,' von der Leyen said. 'It will create more opportunities in key industries, in business activity and agriculture, in automotive and in services.' Brussels has stepped up efforts to improve ties with key potential partners around the world as Trump threatens a trade war with sweeping tariffs. 'This big and important political agreement on the free trade agreement with Indonesia is today a huge milestone forward, and shows that we're looking for new markets, open markets,' von der Leyen said. Prabowo called the announcement in Brussels a 'breakthrough.' 'After 10 years of negotiations, we have concluded the agreement to have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which basically is a free trade agreement,' he said. The president said 'we consider Europe still a very important factor, and we would like to see a very strong Europe.' But he insisted that 'the United States will be always a very important leader in the world.' The European Union is Indonesia's fifth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade between them reaching $30.1 billion last year. Ties had been frayed by a proposed EU import ban on products linked to deforestation that has angered Indonesia because it is a major palm oil exporter. That legislation has been delayed to the end of this year.
Arab News
09-07-2025
- Arab News
EU lawmakers reject attempt to curb far right's sway on climate talks
BRUSSELS: The European Parliament on Wednesday rejected a proposal to fast-track talks on the EU's new climate target, scuttling a move by liberal, socialist and green lawmakers to try to limit the influence of climate skeptic lawmakers on the goal. The far-right Patriots of Europe group, which rejects EU policies to curb climate change, on Tuesday took on the role of lead negotiators for the 2040 climate target, seeking to steer talks on the goal, which the group said it firmly opposed. Lawmakers rebuffed a proposal on Wednesday to fast-track the negotiations, which would have skipped stages where the Patriots could exert most influence, and limited their ability to set the timings for negotiations. A total of 379 lawmakers rejected the plan to accelerate the talks, versus 300 in favor and eight abstentions. The vote puts the Patriots firmly in the lead for the parliament as it negotiates the final 2040 climate target with EU member countries. The Patriots will now draft an initial negotiating proposal for the parliament. A Patriots spokesperson said the group would not prioritize trying to meet a September deadline for countries to submit new climate targets to the United Nations. 'What truly matters is achieving a deal that delivers real benefits for our citizens. Patriots have never negotiated under pressure like traders in a marketplace,' the spokesperson said. The Patriots are the third-biggest lawmaker group in the EU Parliament and the group includes the political parties of France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The Patriots secured the lead negotiating role in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday by outbidding the parliament's biggest group, the center-right European People's Party, EU officials told Reuters. Green lawmakers said they feared the target would now be watered down or face long delays. 'There is an acute danger that the European Union's climate target will be buried,' said German EU lawmaker Michael Bloss. The attempt to fast-track the talks failed because it was not supported by the EPP — the party of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Dutch EPP EU lawmaker Jeroen Lenaers said the group did not deem the fast-track procedure necessary, and wanted to 'improve' the Commission's proposed target to cut emissions 90 percent by 2040, without specifying further. Some EPP lawmakers have said a 90 percent target is too ambitious. Governments from Italy to Poland have pushed back this year on ambitious emissions-cutting goals, citing concerns over the costs for industries.
