This project supports communities affected by the local nickel mining industry and promotes corporate accountability in the global electric vehicle supply chain.
In the heart of Indonesia's nickel boom, we are conducting an environmental and human rights assessment in Labota and Sorowako, Sulawesi, where a once small fishing village has been transformed into a sprawling industrial hub for electric vehicle (EV) battery production. The project supports local communities affected by mining and industrial pollution and aims to promote corporate accountability in the global EV supply chain.
This initiative is realized in partnership with Friends of the Earth Japan and WAHLI.
Accounting for 51% of the world’s total mine production, Indonesia is the world's largest producer of nickel, a key material in electric vehicle batteries. The Morowali Industrial Park on Sulawesi Island, valued at over $15 billion, has become a major global hub for nickel processing and battery manufacturing. The region, which is responsible for approximately 15% of Indonesia's massive nickel output, has seen rapid industrialization, including coal-fired power plants, steelworks, and battery factories with exclusive seaports and airports. However, the development of essential public services has lagged far behind: there is no proper waste management system, and access to adequate healthcare, education, and other basic infrastructure remains severely limited.
Despite supplying global markets – including Europe and the United States – with “green” mobility solutions, the environmental and social cost of this development is being borne by the local population. The indigenous village of Labota, now engulfed by this industrial transformation, suffers from severe pollution, lack of oversight, and growing concerns over health and safety. Mining takes place in an area that is also both a biodiversity hotspot and an important cultural heritage site. This contrast is particularly evident in Sorowoko, a small mining town that has grown on the shores of Lake Matano, an important freshwater reserve not far from Labota.
Research and reports from civil society groups have highlighted how pollution from mining and battery production is harming air, water, and soil quality, significantly disrupting the lives of local fishing and Indigenous communities. Yet, there is a severe lack of official data and environmental monitoring by national or international institutions.
Unfortunately, Labota is not an isolated case. Numerous reports – including a recent one from the Business and Human Rights Resource Center – have shown how the current structure of EV supply chains often displaces the environmental burden onto communities in resource-rich countries like Indonesia. In this project, we aim at contributing with robust and independent data to further expose these hidden costs.
In collaboration with local civil society organizations, we are leading a comprehensive environmental and human rights impact assessment in Labota and Sorowako. The project focuses on nickel mining operations and the adjacent battery manufacturing facility, both of which are key components in the global EV supply chain.
Our work will involve two sampling campaigns to monitor air, water, and soil quality alongside selected health indicators. In parallel, we will conduct interviews and focus group discussions with local residents to document potential human rights violations in both the mining sites and the factory. These qualitative methods will also serve to deepen our understanding of the broader socio-economic dynamics affecting the local population.
All collected data will be shared with the local and international community, supporting legal and advocacy actions in Indonesia and an EU-wide awareness campaign targeting the EV industry.
In May 2025, Flaviano and Stefano went to Indonesia for the first sampling campaign and photographic report. In collaboration with the local partners, we collected 19 water and 16 sediment samples in Sorowako and Morowali, downstream of mining and industrial areas. Back to Italy, we brought the samples to an accredited laboratory to analyze heavy metals – including hexavalent chromium, a well-known human carcinogen that has been observed in concerning concentrations in previous local campaigns.
Our results point to strong anthropogenic inputs associated to ore extraction and processing layered on top of a natural background of selected heavy metals. Sediments were particularly concerning: we found alarming concentration of chromium and nickel – 2 to 200 times higher than their Probable Effect Level, the value above which adverse effects on biota are likely to occur. This contamination was widespread in the entire sampling area though values were consistently higher at sites with known mine-associated contamination (figure below).
Spatial distribution of nickel (left) and chromium (right) in sediments in the Sorowako mining area. The size of the bubble is proportional to the concentration as indicated in the upper right legends (units of mg/kg). Point 4 is a control site.
Heavy metals in water were concerning only in specific cases. Samples collected within the Morowali Industrial Park, in Labota, had extreme levels of manganese – 80 to 200 times higher the Indonesian Environmental Quality Standard for rivers and lakes. Furthermore, in almost 60% of the sites, hexavalent chromium was also above 10 µg/L – the Indonesian standard for drinking water – being as high as 80 µg/L at 2 sites. As for sediments, higher concentrations occurred in locations with known mine-related disturbance.
For more details, check the report of our May 2025 sampling campaign.
At the end of November 2025, Clara and Carlo returned to Sulawesi for a follow-up monitoring of water, sediments, and air. The results of this second campaign will be available at the beginning of 2026.
