Mining-Related Deforestation

🌱 How does mining contribute to deforestation?

According to the WWF, “[m]ining is currently considered to be the fourth largest driver of deforestation”. Moreover, “[m]ining may already affect up to one third of the world’s forest ecosystems, as forest loss and degradation can occur within a 70 km radius of the mining activity itself”. The mining of critical minerals has played a significant role in deforestation in, for example, the Amazon and Indonesia.

🌱 What is the impact in the Amazon?

Industrial mining in the Amazon is estimated to have caused the deforestation of approximately 116 700 hectares between 2005 and 2015. For example, at the copper reserve in the Carajas Mineral Province of Brazil (which is also a source for gold, iron ore, and manganese), the forest is cut down to provide the charcoal that fuels the so-called “pig iron plants”. The deforestation caused by this alone is estimated to eliminate an area of over 6100 km2 each year. The mining and deforestation in the Amazon has adversely impacted Indigenous People, and even led to the killing of several members of the Yanomamo tribe – who are considered to be “South America’s largest isolated indigenous group”.

🌱 What is the impact in Indonesia?

A recent report by Mighty Earth highlights that “Indonesia’s nickel mines have cleared nearly 80,000 hectares of forest to extract nickel”. Moreover, over “half a million additional hectares of Indonesian forest are within nickel concessions, putting them at risk for deforestation”. The rate of deforestation may have even doubled between 2020 and 2023. According to Mighty Earth, the nickel extraction in Indonesia can be tied to “Chinese battery producers such as Tsingshan and Samsung and to global EV manufacturers including Ford, Tesla, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Toyota and Hyundai”. Notably, the Bajau people – who are “the last nomadic sea tribe in the world” – have been particularly strongly impacted by the deforestation. Rain brings contaminated water from the mines into their communities, causing health problems and even death.

🌱 What role does regulation play?

Notably, the mining of indigenous lands is illegal under Brazilian law. Moreover, according to Mighty Earth, some of the nickel extraction happening in Indonesia may be illegal under Indonesian law. Under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, carmakers must audit their supply chains if their customers wish to be eligible for the government tax rebate of USD 3750 per vehicle. Under the EU Battery Regulation, battery supply chains must be traceable. This means that the mines involved, and the adverse impacts they have, must be identified.

🌱 What role does auditing play?

Auditing plays a key role in tackling mining-related deforestation. Going forward, electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers should audit their entire supply chains – which includes auditing the mines where the gold, copper, nickel, and other critical minerals for their EV batteries comes from. Concrete steps should be taken to make sure harms to both the forest and the local population are avoided, or at the very least minimized. Optimally, mining should be carried out primarily on “already developed and deforested land” and “important forest habitats” should be left intact. Moreover, the negative impacts of mining on human rights and Indigenous Peoples should be addressed by businesses.