KUALA LUMPUR - 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.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.
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. But in Southeast Asia, EVs accounted for less than 2 per cent of sales in 2022, according to consultancy firm McKinsey & Company, and governments are introducing incentives for auto and battery makers, tax breaks for buyers, and setting ambitious targets to become EV manufacturing hubs.
Late last year, the country clinched one of the largest-ever donor-led climate finance deals, known as a “Just Energy Transition Partnership”, to shutter coal-fired power plants early and back renewables.Some Indonesian nickel mines are also operating without permits and have caused deforestation in protected areas, contaminating the soil, polluting the ocean and hurting the livelihoods of local fishermen, Marks said.
Deep-sea tailings waste disposal and air pollution linked to nickel mining are other challenges for EV manufacturers seeking to prove their green credentials, said Albidin Linda, climate change and sustainability partner at consultancy EY Indonesia.