Recent film work for Climate Rights International to accompany their report on the impact of Indonesia’s growing nickel industry, especially on the remote Halmahera Island, Maluku.
Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, supplying 48 percent of global demand in 2022. Across the country, massive nickel industrial parks are being built, where nickel ore is refined into usable materials for industrial applications and consumer products. While for decades nickel has primarily been used in the production of stainless steel, demand has skyrocketed in recent years due to increasing use in renewable energy technologies, including in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. To meet the growing demand for EVs and other renewables, and in a scenario aligned with the Paris Agreement’s climate goals, global nickel demand is expected to increase roughly 60 percent by 2040.
This report documents the environmental and human impacts of IWIP, a huge nickel smelting and processing project, and surrounding nickel mines in Halmahera. The construction and operation of IWIP and upstream nickel mining has devastated the lives of many Indigenous Peoples and other rural community members, and caused significant harms to the local environment and global climate.
Producer: Adi Renaldi and Krista Shennum
Director and Cinematography: Muhammad Fadli
Editor: Martino Wayan
Graphic: Putu Deoris
Voiceover: Krista Shennum
Additonal Footage: Agoes Rudianto