Deforestation for green energy, a contradiction in terms

The world is switching from fossil fuels to clean energy, but mining the minerals that are needed for solar panels, wind turbines and batteries is destructive to ecosystems and local communities. Can it be done differently? ‘Mining companies are now starting afresh, but now they are also wearing a green jacket – after all, they are digging for the energy transition! But they still operate entirely according to the old, colonial system.’ Vice Versa sets out on an investigation.

This article originally appeared in a special issue of journalistic platform Vice Versa about the Power of Voices partnerships.

Text: Marc van Dijk. Header photo: Nickel mining on Sulawesi, (c) Stephanie Broekarts/IUCN NL

The world is rapidly switching from fossil fuels to clean energy. To meet the CO₂* targets in the hope of mitigating climate change, this cannot go fast enough, but the rapid transition is also leading to a new gold rush: the global craving for minerals, needed for the production of solar panels, batteries and basically everything related to electricity and digital technology, from cables and wind turbines to electric cars, computers, phones, tablets and other screens. These minerals include cobalt, nickel, lithium, copper, bauxite and manganese.

Isabelle Geuskens, Just Energy Transition specialist at Milieudefensie, sees that lots of ‘bad deals’ are being struck on important natural areas worldwide. 

‘The mining boom, which we are already in the middle of, but which will intensify in the coming years, is leading to extremes,’ she says. ‘Important international laws and regulations are in the making, such as the critical raw materials act in the European Union. It is unfortunately unlikely that the right choices will be made in this respect, while much depends on this for the coming decades.’

There are examples of responsible mining, but they are very rare. ‘The main part,’ says Geuskens, ‘is the other extreme: mining companies see their opportunity to once again plunder poor countries burdened by debt and weak governance cultures. 

‘Mining companies have not had a good reputation for decades, due to the many human rights violations and environmental damage they cause, including in forest areas. Now they can start afresh, but now they are also wearing a green jacket – after all, they are digging for the energy transition! But they still operate entirely according to the old, colonial system. 

‘Large consumers of energy, such as the United States, are scared to death of China grabbing all the resources – it already controls much of the renewable chain. Europe is also apprehensive about it, and most of its efforts are aimed at putting its own energy needs first.’

Without radical readjustment, we risk getting permanently bogged down in old patterns. ‘The world is divided according to the logic of fossil fuels,’ Geuskens continues. ‘Whoever is on top, like the US, is a world power. That is about to change: who will control the world of renewable energy? These are largely the countries that control these mines – and so deals are being struck aggressively, to beat rivals to it. 

‘While many questions raised by mining require a broad view, and that takes time and attention. Questions like: how are we going to run the mine, do we respect all human rights, and what is the impact on communities, and specifically on women within them? How do we protect nature during mining operations? Will there be thorough nature restoration after exploitation? 

‘What do local people think, and how does the country in which the mine is located also benefit from the mined mineral resources for its own transition needs, or is everything simply exported to the West and will locals remain deprived of clean energy? But the run on minerals threatens to become a repetition of a fossil-like system: a colonialist-capitalist predatory mechanism that is sweeping the world.’

So that process comes at the expense of people elsewhere, Geuskens argues, often local and indigenous communities that are once again forced to turn into a kind of sacrificial territories, for the rich countries. ‘With also a heavy impact on women and girls – so we see many communities rebel, and women are playing a leadership role in that.’

Large-scale deforestation

Unfortunately, many governments of relatively poor countries easily go along with deals that are very unfavourable to them. ‘Those countries,’ says Geuskens, ‘often have high debts and they have committed themselves to trade agreements, which weakens their negotiating position. To pay off debts, they agree to have many of their commodities disappear abroad, with multinationals in particular being the winners.’ 

‘Do not forget,’ says ecologist Mark van der Wal of nature preservation organisation IUCN NL, in turn, ‘that the ecological damage after mining can continue for a frighteningly long time – just think of our own examples, such as the gas fields in Groningen and the coal mines Limburg. 

‘When the mine has been closed down, it often really begins: health complaints among miners and people in the surrounding area, irreparable damage to nature. In addition, mining often involves large-scale deforestation, and huge amounts of fossil energy are consumed for processing the minerals.’

Growing resistance against mining

In many countries with coveted mineral resources, the new mineral fever is accompanied by increasingly vocal and successful resistance. Activist Jaybee Garganera is one of the founders and the national coordinator of Alyansa Tigil Mina in the Philippines, and he campaigns against destructive large-scale mining there. His umbrella organization supports and connects 110 smaller action groups and local and indigenous communities.

‘We have seen the impact of mining operations in nature preservation areas,’ he says, ‘in areas of indigenous communities and on islands with fragile ecosystems. We find that the costs of mining operations far outweigh the benefits to local communities and to the country as a whole.’

The Philippines: a battleground for mineral resources

The Philippines has become a main stage of the quest for minerals in the region, now that Indonesia has halted exports of crude nickel ore. ‘The pressure from China in particular to open new mines here is enormous,’ Garganera says. The government should put up resistance to it, and it could, but it is doing the opposite.

‘President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., elected in 2022, pretends that it is very important to take part in the international copper, cobalt, and nickel trade, but this is not backed up with figures.’ Meanwhile, according to Garganera, it is clear that corruption plays a huge role in the case.

‘Martín Romualdez, the Speaker of the House of People’s Representatives, comes from a family that owns one of the country’s oldest mining companies. The president too has family ties with it – see his middle name. In the first six months when Martín Romualdez was Speaker, the family bought three more mining companies, and mines were restarted that had been shut down years ago, due to well-founded objections, or that never got a license.’

Resistance is growing, and Garganera has already achieved the necessary successes. ‘We have supported blockades and resistance from local and indigenous communities,’ he says. ‘Mining disrupts their way of life and destroys the areas they are entitled to by inheritance. No activity should take place there without their permission, and the highest court recently ruled in our favor. It has been able to prevent the destruction of several thousand hectares of rainforest – at least for now.’

Sustainable business models

Mining definitely deserves attention, but we should not think that mines are the only problem: the challenge is much bigger, Isabelle Geuskens says: ‘Not just mines, but entire industrial and commercial chains need to change. We need responsible design of things: as a consumer, you are now almost forced to change your phone for a new one every two or three years.

‘This calls for different business models, more focused on sustainability. With properly organized and legally enshrined reuse of the precious minerals, far fewer mines would be needed – now the rare minerals often end up in the incinerator along with the unusable residual waste.’

Signs of positive change

Fortunately, she also sees signs of a change, for which she herself is actively lobbying at an international level. ‘People are much more aware of it than before, which is a tremendous breakthrough. As a consumer, you can already make choices now, by looking at the sustainability policies adopted by the producers of your beloved products.’

Mark van der Wal holds up his phone. ‘This is a Fairphone,’ he says, ‘which is at the forefront of sustainable policies: of all the minerals used for it, the company knows the exact origin and knows that the mines involved are run according to the highest standards. This is by no means easy to achieve, but it can be done.

‘The phones are modular. You can have new things put in, such as a new camera or battery – that’s the circular thinking we need to move towards. And it is cheaper than an iPhone, while you cannot maintain or renovate an iPhone as a consumer. A responsible revenue model does not have to lead to more expensive products at all.’

The role of politicians and legislation

So as a consumer, you can already make a difference now, but in addition, politicians could also take a much more active stance in changing the chains. ‘Policies should aim to ensure that fair products do not become more expensive,’ Van der Wal says, ‘but rather cheaper. Harmful products should become more expensive, through extra taxation, for example.

‘You can wait for companies to seek responsible mines of their own accord, as Tesla and BMW say they are currently doing, even though their green claims are partly unproven, especially with regard to nickel, but it is better to enforce change with legislation. To keep the planet livable and protect the remaining natural treasures, we will have to impose standards on the industry.

‘Such as the IRMA standard (the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance), which comes with agreements on nature restoration. That means not just planting trees after you are done, but continuing to pay for that nature restoration for 30 or 40 years or so.’

An IRMA Ready Standard for Mineral Exploration is currently being developed, which states that governments and miners should respect land rights and look critically at the location of mines so that they do not compromise nature and ecosystem services – in other words: ecological security.

The costs of environmental damage

These seem rather far-reaching demands on producers, but according to Van der Wal, they are actually only reasonable: ‘Because who will now foot the bill for the damage to nature? The country where the miners did their destructive work, and thus the taxpayer.

‘People and animals who get sick from the metals released into surface water by mining, ecosystems that have been devastated and local communities that have lost their livelihoods – so the companies make others pay for the damage, from which they make a profit.’

It sometimes seems impossible to rein in the forces of the free market, but Van der Wal sees it differently. ‘We took the lead out of our petrol,’ he says, ‘which was a global problem: it caused acid rain. It also seemed absolutely impossible once… but it was done within 30 years, which is the span of one generation.

‘The same goes for CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), which were in countless products and have now almost completely disappeared. So we can make these kinds of transitions, in a manageable period of time, and in this case that includes other things as well: we need to change our consumption patterns. If we keep using energy at the same level, we are not going to make it – no matter how clean we make the transition.’

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Jaybee Garganera continues his fight. Moreover, with financial support and in strategic cooperation with the Netherlands – through the Green Livelihoods Alliance’s Forests For a Just Future project – there is a robust international movement aiming to enforce stricter requirements on miners, stop mining in unique ecosystems such as jungles, and safeguard the interests of local communities.

The potential for transformation

Isabelle Geuskens: ‘The transition has destructive potential, but also offers an opportunity to do things completely differently. It is essential that it is not just some compensation money left and right that people are fobbed off with, while the destruction is immense and continues for decades.

‘We need good laws and regulations, such as the European CSDDD: policies that enable real climate justice, so that the populations of the countries in which transition commodities are located do not foot the bill again for our consumption and so that their nature is also protected, their rights respected, and they themselves can make the transition too.’

Vice Versa special

In a new special, journalistic platform Vice Versa wrote multiple articles about the work of the Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA). The GLA is a collaboration of six NGOs, including IUCN NL, working for the sustainable and inclusive management of tropical forests, to combat deforestation, human rights violations and climate change, and to secure local livelihoods.

Other articles included in the special

• This is what the economy of the Amazon will look like
• The partnership, a platform, a springboard