Nickel is a critical mineral for the energy transition, and Indonesia supplies more than 60% of global demand, making the industry a strategic priority for the country. But rapid expansion has brought well-documented human rights and environmental risks, including pollution, deforestation, land conflict with Indigenous Peoples, forced labor, occupational health and safety concerns, food insecurity, inequality in mining regions, and intimidation or retaliation against rights holders.

Rights CoLab is piloting an effort to develop investor- and downstream buyer-facing community-driven human rights and environmental due diligence data in the Indonesian nickel industry. The effort is designed to encourage investors and downstream buyers, such as electronic vehicle (EV) automakers, to assert their leverage to reduce the adverse impacts. Because nickel is a critical mineral for batteries in EVs, data centers, and alternative energy infrastructure, evolving laws and policies requiring traceability and due diligence in battery supply chains, such as the EU Battery Regulation, provide especially strong incentives to address human rights and environmental risks in the nickel industry.

Rights CoLab’s project developed a system for regularly collecting community-level information about the quality and scope of company engagement with affected rightsholders, including the obtaining of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC); on-going community consultation; and grievance mechanisms. The project has developed a survey instrument adapted from Rights CoLab’s Stakeholder Engagement Guide that captures community perceptions of company engagement and operations, including from vulnerable groups such as Indigenous People, migrants, and women. It also captures the details of company efforts to communicate with affected communities throughout the three provinces where nickel is most prevalent: Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and North Maluku.

The pilot aims to close the information gap between what companies report on regarding their management of human rights and environmental risks and the realities on the ground for the affected communities. We believe that sustained investor and brand attention to this information will result in pressure on companies to improve their community engagement practices, resulting in more responsible mining and refining in Indonesia, with less harmful impacts on people and the planet.

As part of a multistakeholder approach, Rights CoLab consults with the following Indonesian civil society organizations: 

AEER (Action for Ecology and People’s Emancipation)

ELSAM (Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy)

Institut Mosintuwu

Perempuan Mahardhika 

Satya Bumi

WALHI Sulteng (The Indonesian Forum for the Environment) – Central Sulawesi