Allegations linked to some of the biggest EV manufacturers, including Toyota, Tesla, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo, Audi, Jaguar, Hyundai, Ford and General Motors. 

As the globe transitions to cleaner sources of energy, the human rights abuses in electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chains must be urgently addressed. In a new report published today (31 July 2024), the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre looked at the human rights and environmental impacts of extracting and processing nickel, a critical component of electric vehicle batteries.  The research focuses on Indonesia, which is set to dominate the global supply of nickel – with abuses linked to some of the biggest EV manufacturers on the road: Toyota, Tesla, Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo, Audi, Jaguar, Hyundai, Ford, General Motors and others.  The report found that nickel mining in Indonesia is driving deforestation and environmental harm, pushing the small island communities on the front lines of the climate crisis into even more extreme precarity. While nickel processing facilities continue burning coal to produce essential EV components, Indigenous Peoples, like the Bajau, face threats to their ancestral homes and livelihoods on Indonesia’s coastline.  Key takeaways from the report included: 

• Alongside deforestation, Indonesia’s captive coal plants also contribute to the climate crisis. Industrial parks in Indonesia are mainly powered by captive coal plants – power sources that directly feed into the parks’ operations and do not connect to the electricity grid. Partly due to these recent build outs of captive coal plants, Indonesia’s coal generation is peaking at record levels.  
• Worker safety in Indonesia’s industrial parks is a critical issue in the country. Research by Trend Asia identified 68 workplace incidents in 15 smelters in Sulawesi and Maluku Islands from 2015 to 2020. These workplace incidents resulted in 76 injured workers and 57 deaths.   
• Nickel mining on the small islands of Wawonii and Kabaena severely polluted the water –the most important resource for the local people. In particular, nickel mining on Kabaena island has threatened the traditional way of life of the Bajau Indigenous People, known as the last sea nomads.  

As the Indonesian Government looks to harness its mineral resources to boost its economy and become the world’s nickel powerhouse, it must embed respect for human rights and halt environmental destruction. Carbon emissions through captive coal plants that power nickel smelters run counter to the country’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P) commitments to phase out fossil fuels. The Indonesian Government must stop permitting all new coal plants, including captive coal plants used in the country’s industrial parks, and enact clear policy safeguards with meaningful enforcement to ensure a just transition.  A spokesperson for the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre said: “Responding to the climate crisis is the most urgent priority of our time, with a shift to renewable energy at the forefront of this. This is why it’s so concerning that the extraction of nickel, one of the essential components of electric vehicle batteries, is riddled with human rights and environmental abuses. Our research has revealed how electric vehicle supply chains are plagued by harms to Indigenous communities, as well as environmental impacts such as deforestation and water pollution. We are also seeing a consistent lack of free, prior and informed consent with communities, as well as a failure to address worker safety. These abuses risk derailing the urgent transition to clean transportation, with US senators already objecting to a critical minerals trade deal with Indonesia due to the Southeast Asian country’s standards for labour rights, environmental protection, safety and human rights.  “Electric vehicle companies and investors have a crucial role to play in cleaning up the industry to deliver a just transition. If these companies are serious about curbing carbon emissions, they must begin by addressing the human rights risks in their supply chains – and this starts with improving their transparency and sourcing practices. Not only would this make it easier to identify, understand and remediate abuses linked to them, but it is also becoming a necessity: the EU’s CSDDD and Battery Regulation legislations, along with increasing investor interest in more rights-respecting nickel mining operations, requires EV companies to adopt responsible mineral sourcing policies, be more transparent and conduct adequate human rights due diligence along their supply chains. If we are to achieve a true just and equitable transition to renewable energy that advances human rights, EV companies can no longer afford not to know where their nickel comes from. EV companies, battery manufacturers and investors must recognise their role and use their unique leverage with suppliers to drive supply chain transparency and address abuse through robust human rights and environmental due diligence. Unless this is urgently done, the positive momentum towards electric vehicles risks being derailed.”   What are EV companies saying?  We reached out to 21 EV companies to respond to allegations of abuse in nickel supply chains revealed in reports by NGOs: Mighty Earth and Climate Rights International. Only four companies responded: Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla. 

• Mercedes-Benz stated it does not currently source nickel directly but maps “…nickel supply chains in great detail in an ongoing process, as they are dynamic and very complex with many tier stages.” Mercedes-Benz further explained that the company works closely with direct suppliers and obliges them to pass on its Responsible Sourcing Standards within the supply chain. The company says, “detailed supply chain mapping is confidential business information”. Full response available here.   
• Tesla stated its commitment to ensuring suppliers respect human rights and protect the environment. The company mentioned that “…the best way to promote responsible sourcing is to remain engaged and encourage corrective actions”. Full response available here.
• Volkswagen responded stating it does not currently purchase nickel directly but obtains battery raw materials indirectly from suppliers in the form of EV batteries. The company further explained that its battery suppliers, in turn, source nickel through their own business processes. Full response available here. 
• BMW explained it does not have any direct supply relationships or cooperations with nickel suppliers in Indonesia, and that nickel suppliers source raw materials independently. Full response available here.

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Notes to editors:   

• The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts (positive and negative) of more than 10,000 companies across nearly 200 countries. We seek responses from companies when concerns are raised by civil society.  
• This research is a follow-up to our report, Powering electric vehicles, published in May 2023. Considering the increase in demand for nickel contained in EV batteries, we wanted to take a deeper dive into Indonesia – the world’s biggest nickel producer – and examine additional human rights and environmental impacts of nickel mining and processing that were not covered in our 2023 briefing.  
• The research on Kabaena island involved direct field investigations conducted by BHRRC’s local partner, Satya Bumi. Satya Bumi interviewed 52 individuals from six villages across four districts on Kabaena Island. Interviews with local residents were also conducted.  

Media contact: Priyanka Mogul, Senior Media Officer, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre ([email protected])