cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/57897582

• Indonesia recorded 96 allegations of human rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese investments in transition minerals from 2023 to 2025, the most of any country, with 90 involving nickel, according to a new report.
• Water, soil, and air pollution were among the main environmental concerns, while Indonesian nickel processors accounted for 57% of work-related deaths and 68% of injury allegations documented globally.
• The report also documented allegations involving Indigenous rights violations, intimidation of environmental defenders, and failures to obtain free, prior, and informed consent around nickel projects in Indonesia.
• The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, which compiled the report, says Chinese companies need stronger human rights and environmental due diligence, as gaps between corporate commitments and practices could create growing risks for workers, communities, and supply chains.

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Indonesia recorded more allegations of human rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese investments in transition minerals than any other country between 2023 and 2025, a new report says. It identifies the vast majority of problems with the country’s rapidly expanding nickel industry.

The report by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRC), Shifting ground - Human rights, Chinese investment and the rush for transition minerals (pdf), documented 323 publicly reported allegations across 24 countries during the three-year period, plus three confidential cases involving attacks on human rights defenders. That brings the total to 326 allegations for 2023-2025.

The number of recorded allegations has also risen each year, from 51 in 2021 to 148 in 2025, bringing the five-year total to 434. That increase doesn’t necessarily mean the number of abuses themselves have tripled, as changes in reporting, monitoring, and the database can affect the figures.

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Still, the rising trend comes as investment in the minerals used in electric vehicles, batteries, and renewable energy technologies expands rapidly, raising risks for workers, Indigenous peoples, local communities, and the environment.

The report also documented 18 attacks against human rights defenders across all 24 countries between 2023 and 2025, including cases involving judicial harassment, violence, and intimidation.

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Of the 323 allegations analyzed in detail, 96 were in Indonesia, the highest of any country. The Democratic Republic of Congo was second with 52, followed by Myanmar with 36, Serbia with 32, and Zimbabwe with 20.

Ninety of the 96 Indonesian allegations involved nickel. Of those, 71 concerned nickel processing, 17 nickel extraction, and two project development. Overall, 73 of the 96 Indonesian allegations occurred during processing, smelting or refining.

The concentration in processing is notable because, globally, extraction accounted for the majority of allegations.

Three major nickel hubs — the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP), and nickel projects on Obi Island — together accounted for 59 allegations, or about 61% of the Indonesian total.

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Water pollution was the most frequently recorded environmental impact globally, with 102 allegations, followed by soil pollution (69), air pollution (55), violations of environmental safety standards (54), access to water (51), and impact assessment failures (32).

In Indonesia, nickel-processing operations accounted for 22 allegations involving water pollution, 14 involving air pollution, and nine involving soil pollution.

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Indonesia’s nickel-processing boom generates not only environmental risks but also a disproportionate share of the worker deaths and injuries documented across Chinese-linked transition mineral projects globally.

BHRC recorded 25 allegations involving worker injuries and 47 involving work-related deaths worldwide. Of those, Indonesian nickel processors accounted for 17 injury allegations (68% of the global total) and 27 death allegations, or 57% of the global toll.

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Problems can begin before a mine or processing facility even starts operating, as Indigenous peoples and local communities seek to protect their land, livelihoods, and traditional ways of life.

BHRC documented eight allegations in Indonesia involving failures to respect Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent, or FPIC. The report cited allegations affecting the Hongana Manyawa and Bajau peoples, including land dispossession, degradation of their living environment, and loss of traditional livelihoods and cultural ties.

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Global demand for transition minerals continues to grow as countries race to build renewable energy and electric vehicle supply chains. Major companies from the U.S., the European Union, and elsewhere are seeking to secure critical mineral supplies from resource-rich countries such as Indonesia [...] China’s role also gives its companies an opportunity to improve human rights and community engagement across the mining supply chain, BHRC executive director Michael Clements said.

But the report found a gap between Chinese corporate policies and practices on the ground.

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Ten companies accounted for 65% of the 323 allegations in the report. The top three were Zijin Mining, with 49 allegations; Tsingshan, with 42; and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, with 22. Together, they accounted for 113 allegations, or more than a third of the total.

The finding is notable because Zijin Mining and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt both have publicly available human rights policies, raising questions about how effectively such policies are being implemented.

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