Jakarta – Greenpeace Indonesia held an action at the Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference & Expo 2025 (ICMCE 2025) event in Jakarta, Tuesday, 3 June, by unfurling banners reading: “What’s the True Cost of Your Nickel?” and “Nickel Mines Destroy Lives”.
ICMCE 2025 is Southeast Asia’s premier gathering of mining and energy sector entrepreneurs, aiming to bring together more than 1,600 senior representatives, over 100 speakers, and more than 40 exhibitors from around the world.
The government and industry boast that the quality of nickel from North Maluku is the best in the world. However, Greenpeace says that nickel industrialisation has had serious consequences for local ecosystems and communities, including in areas of Papua that are now under threat from mining.
“The energy transition should not be paid for by the destruction of forests and seas, or the loss of indigenous peoples’ livelihoods. This is not climate justice, this is irony,” said Iqbal Damanik, Greenpeace Indonesia Forest Campaigner.
North Maluku claims world’s best nickel
The Governor of North Maluku, Sherly Tjoanda, in the same forum, emphasised that her region produces the best quality nickel globally.
“Nickel from North Maluku has a very high saprolite and limonite content, and is very stable for chemical production, including raw materials for electric vehicle batteries. I can say this is one of the best in the world,” she said.
Sherly adds that North Maluku is not just a nickel producer, but is on its way to becoming Indonesia’s only large-scale battery-grade nickel sulphate production centre.
“We are sustainably organising nickel industrialisation, building a green industry, and creating a socially just government. All this is for the welfare of the people of North Maluku,” she added.
According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, downstreaming in North Maluku has attracted Rp 55 trillion in investment from January to September 2024. As a result, the province’s economic growth reached 20.49% in 2023, the highest globally.
Greenpeace: “Raja Ampat in danger”
But behind the narrative of growth and sustainability, Greenpeace highlights the damage caused by the expansion of nickel mining, including in the Raja Ampat region of Southwest Papua, an area dubbed “the last paradise on Earth.”
“Nickel mining has cleared more than 500 hectares of forest on Gag, Kawe and Manuran Islands. We saw firsthand the sedimentation caused by land dredging that polluted the sea. This happens on small islands that should be protected by Law No. 1 of 2014,” said Iqbal.
Other islands, such as Batang Pele and Manyaifun, which are only 30 kilometres from the tourist icon Piaynemo, are also reportedly threatened by mining.
Ronisel Mambrasar, a young Papuan from the village of Manyaifun, expressed his concerns: “The nickel mine changed our lives. The sea, which is our source of life, is threatened. Our social relations are disrupted. The government must listen to the voices of the little people before it’s too late.”
Greenpeace reminded that Raja Ampat is a global geopark, home to 75% of the world’s coral species and more than 2,500 species of fish, as well as hundreds of endemic bird and mammal species.
Call for a halt to destructive nickel industrialisation
Greenpeace Indonesia strongly requests the government to review the direction of the nickel downstreaming policy, which is considered to have worsened the ecological and social crisis.
“The nickel industry has been using coal-fired power plants as an energy source. This contradicts the goal of an equitable energy transition. Moreover, large investments often ignore the involvement of local businesses,” said Iqbal.
The organisation also urges the Prabowo-Gibran government to stop bragging about nickel downstreaming and start a serious dialogue about environmental justice and the protection of indigenous peoples.
“We do not reject the energy transition, but we reject a transition that is built on human suffering and natural destruction,” Iqbal concluded. (Hartatik)
Banner photo: Greenpeace Indonesia activists unfurl a banner reading “Nickel Mines Destroy Lives” during Deputy Foreign Minister Arief Havas Oegroseno’s speech at the Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference 2025, Tuesday (3/6). (Photo source: Greenpeace)
