The climate crisis compels the world to urgently curb carbon emissions. Electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to shift the transport industry away from fossil fuels. But mining for the nickel required for EV batteries in Indonesia – the world’s biggest nickel producer – is driving deforestation and environmental harm, pushing the small island communities on the front lines of the climate crisis into even more extreme precarity. From carbon emissions from captive coal plants fuelling nickel smelters to deforestation and water pollution threatening the ancestral homes and livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples, human rights and environmental abuses in opaque battery mineral supply chains demand urgent action if we are to achieve a just transition to clean energy.

One year on from our 2023 investigation into nickel supply chains in the Philippines and Indonesia, global demand for EVs continues to pick up pace. In this briefing we take a closer look at the abuses baked into Indonesia’s nickel supply chain, expanding our research and examining the impacts of nickel mining on two small islands in Southeast Sulawesi: Wawonii and Kabaena. Given the links of Indonesian nickel to EV manufacturers, including some of the biggest name brands on the road, this analysis signals a call to action by car companies, battery makers, mining companies and investors.