(Jakarta, November 3, 2025) – The Indonesian government, nickel mining and processing companies, and electric vehicle companies should take steps to prevent the abuses outlined in a new statement issued by United Nations human rights experts, Climate Rights International said today. The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and several other UN rights experts raised concerns about reports of environmental destruction, lack of Indigenous consent, and intimidation of environmental defenders connected to projects operated by the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) and Weda Bay Nickel (WBN) in North Maluku. 

The experts noted that Indonesia’s rapid nickel expansion, driven by global demand for electric vehicle batteries, has been accompanied by allegations of serious human rights and environmental harms. They called on the Indonesian government and all companies involved in nickel extraction, processing, and global supply chains to take immediate steps to address existing harms, prevent further abuses, and ensure transparency and accountability across the industry. At the time of writing, the Indonesian government, IWIP, and key companies, such as the largest IWIP shareholder, Tsingshan Holding Group, have failed to respond to the letter.  

“The UN intervention is timely as Indonesia’s nickel industry has expanded at a dizzying pace with almost no meaningful safeguards to protect Indigenous Peoples and other local communities,” said Krista Shennum, researcher at Climate Rights International. “Huge multinational and Indonesian companies are poisoning formerly pristine air and water, land is being grabbed without adequate compensation, and environmental defenders are being targeted.” 

The UN statement mirrors and reinforces findings from Climate Rights International’s investigations, which have documented how residents in nickel hotspots throughout Indonesia have suffered from serious air and water pollution, severe impacts on traditional livelihoods such as farming and fishing, and loss of land and homes without adequate compensation. In its 2024 report, Nickel Unearthed, Climate Rights International documented serious human rights violations linked to IWIP and WBN. 

Climate Rights International’s October 16 report, Does Anyone Care?, shows that these abuses are part of a systemic pattern across Indonesia’s nickel sector. Companies have failed to prevent or remedy harms, while the government has taken few steps to protect affected communities or hold companies accountable. Indonesia’s nickel boom has created a model of development that prioritizes the global demand for minerals over the rights and well-being of those living closest to mines and mineral processing plants.  

In addition to human rights abuses, the reports have highlighted Indonesia’s heavy reliance on captive coal plants to power nickel processing at IWIP and other industrial parks, locking in new greenhouse gas emissions even though the industry is promoted as part of the clean energy transition. 

“The failure of both government and companies to act in the face of overwhelming evidence of environmental and human rights harms is inexcusable,” said Shennum. “The nickel industry must stop polluting the local environment and harming local communities. But that won’t happen unless the Indonesian government does its job of holding the industry accountable for past and ongoing harms.”  

The UN statement makes clear that the nickel industry will continue to cause significant harm until real accountability takes hold. The Indonesian government must act swiftly to strengthen and enforce environmental and labor protections and ensure that all nickel mining and processing operations comply with international human rights, environmental, and climate law. It should also immediately stop the permitting of all new captive coal plants; hold accountable, including through criminal prosecutions and civil penalties, nickel mining and processing companies and their representatives responsible for environmental and rights violations; and ensure that communities displaced or harmed by nickel operations have access to fair compensation. 

 At the same time, nickel mining and processing companies should remediate existing pollution and minimize future air, water, and soil pollution from industrial activities; fully and fairly compensate all community members for land taken without compensation or where insufficient compensation was previously provided; and share all information related to future expansion, deforestation, land acquisition, and industrial activities with the public.   

 Downstream users—including major electric vehicle and battery manufacturers—also have a crucial role to play. These companies must conduct credible human rights and environmental due diligence, trace their supply chains, disclose their sourcing, and use their leverage to press for stronger protections.  

 “The UN experts have made clear that the world is watching,” Shennum said. “President Prabowo’s government faces a crucial test of its promises to be a global leader in the clean energy transition. Leadership requires more than words—it requires action.”