Revealed: VW, Ford and Tesla batteries linked to destructive deforestation of indigenous lands

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By Stefano Valentino in Sulawesi and Ajit Niranjan.The Guardian. 

Excerpt: Volkswagen, Ford and Tesla are among the electric carmakers whose batteries may contain nickel mined in indigenous woodlands plagued by deforestation, an analysis has found, highlighting the struggle to make vehicles that are free from environmental destruction. Corporate disclosures and trade flows from the last two years show mines in the battery supply chains of automotive giants are linked to the loss of trees in Sulawesi, a wildlife hotspot in Indonesia that houses the world’s largest nickel deposits. The metal is widely used in cathodes in car batteries because it boosts energy density and increases range. Ore from the Cahaya and Hengjaya mines was traced through regional smelters and Chinese processing plants run by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, a cathode manufacturer that supplies CATL, the world’s largest battery maker. Huayou’s corporate reports list US and European carmakers as end-users, while additional corporate files and trade data show a separate route from Huayou to LG, a South Korean group that also supplies battery products to leading carmakers, via Poland. Satellite analysis shows the mines have led to widespread deforestation of primary rainforest in nickel-rich lands inhabited by the indigenous Tolaki people. “We used to ask the forest for protection in return for our offerings,” said Wadimula, a Tolaki elder whose home sits on the edge of the 21,000-hectare Cahaya mining concession. “Destroying it means destroying our own life.”... 

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