Yes to the ‘green revolution' – but without copper and nickel from the rainforest!
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Industrialized countries such as Germany have a ravenous appetite for metals and consume far more than is ecologically and socially sustainable. Now, electric vehicles are being touted as one of the solutions to the climate crisis – but many of the raw materials they use are being mined in the world's rainforests.
News and updates Call to actionTo: the German federal government, the ministries for economic affairs, energy and the environment
“Germany and other industrialized countries need to drastically cut their consumption of raw materials and transition to a circular economy.”
In Ecuador, thousands of hectares of Amazon rainforest are being cleared for the Mirador copper mine. Toxic waste from the open pit mine is polluting the region's rivers. The indigenous Shuar were not able to stop the mine with their protests and are now in danger of losing their livelihoods. The copper mined there is shipped to China, where it is processed into products such as the copper foil used in batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
Meanwhile, 20,000 kilometers away, local people are protesting in Indonesia: On Sulawesi, rainforests and mangroves are being cleared for nickel mining and smelting. Nickel production waste is discharged into the sea, where it destroys coral reefs, marine life and the livelihoods of local fishermen. As a vital component in lithium-ion batteries, the nickel also ends up in EVs via China and South Korea.
Germany is one of the largest importers of metallic raw materials, and its automotive industry – the flagship of its economy – is one of the main consumers. The materials going into EVs are mined at a great cost to the environment and human rights in the global South, processed and shipped in worldwide supply chains. And the boom in EVs is only just beginning: demand for copper for EVs is predicted to rise from 208,000 tons in 2017 to 1.91 million tons in 2030 – a more than nine-fold increase in only 13 years!
We cannot consume our way out of the climate crisis by simply buying EVs. Nor will all the other problems of individual mobility such as traffic jams, noise and accidents be reduced by putting millions of new EVs on the road.
We need to reject the dogma of limitless economic growth. We need to reduce, reuse and recycle. We need bold new mobility concepts – and the transition from combustion engines to EVs is only one piece of that puzzle.
Together with our partner PowerShift, we are calling on the German government to change the course of Europe's largest economy: Germany and other industrial countries must transition to a circular raw materials economy and put innovative mobility concepts in place immediately.
LetterTo: the German federal government, the ministries for economic affairs, energy and the environment
Ladies and gentlemen,
Germany is one of the largest consumers of metallic raw materials, including copper and nickel. Their extraction has been associated again and again with massive human rights violations and serious environmental damage. Mining is one of the greatest threats to the world's ecosystems, including the last remaining rainforests, coral reefs, rivers, oceans and biodiversity hotspots.
Furthermore, mining and the processing of ores are responsible for around 11 percent of global CO₂ emissions and are therefore a driver of the climate crisis.
We therefore call on the federal government, and above all the ministry of economic affairs, which is responsible for questions of raw materials policy, to take active steps to reduce Germany's consumption of primary metals. We demand:
1.) a significant reduction in the consumption of raw materials extracted by mining
2.) clear and measurable reduction targets for raw material consumption in the mobility and transport sector by 2030
3.) the immediate implementation of a circular economy, including clear specifications for durable, repairable and recyclable products
4.) climate protection, respect for human rights, and protection of the environment and biodiversity – such as rainforest conservation – must take priority over securing the supply of raw materials for industry.
Yours faithfully,
Speaking out against Tesla’s German Gigafactory, mining in the global South
On March 10, more than 1,000 people protested against the planned expansion of the Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin. 100 hectares of forest in a water protection area are due to be destroyed for the factory. Rainforest Rescue joined the demonstration, not only out of concern for Brandenburg's water problems, but even more because of the harmful mining practices in countries of the global South.
Indonesia: Christmas Eve nickel smelter blast kills 20
An explosion at a nickel smelter in Sulawesi, Indonesia, on December 24 left twenty dead and dozens injured. This is only the latest disaster in the country's booming nickel industry.
Ecuador: Local people triumph over copper mine
The mountain rainforests of northern Ecuador are the scene of one of the longest resistance campaigns against mining in Latin America. Rainforest Rescue has been supporting the affected communities for 25 years. They have now won a spectacular victory in court: The environmental permits for the planned Llurimagua copper mine have been annulled – once and for all.
Indonesia: Indigenous rainforest guardians released from prison
The relief at Lake Mahalona is palpable: Three wrongly convicted Indigenous rainforest guardians are free after months in prison. Time and again, Indigenous people like them are criminalized. But the men were able to rely on the solidarity of local groups and Rainforest Rescue. They knew that they were not powerless against the corrupt judicial system.
Open letter to Elon Musk from Indonesia: NO to nickel mining for EVs!
Indonesia has large nickel deposits in Sulawesi and the Moluccas. The mining of nickel, its smelting and transport as well as the construction of factories are destroying the rainforest, the Coral Triangle and human livelihoods. Indonesian environmental groups have written an open letter to Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk.
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