Policy studies

• Since a 2020 law ordering the processing of mining commodities into more valuable, marketable products (downstreaming), Indonesia’s nickel production and export have surged sharply.
• However, controversies surrounding Indonesia’s nickel sector are difficult to ignore.
• Additionally, the tumult caused by Indonesia’s nickel export ban, which led to a 2021 lawsuit at the World Trade Organization, and the collapse of nickel prices due to oversupply have been notable.

• As the world’s largest nickel producer and reserve holder, according to data from the United States Geological Survey, downstream processing is seemingly inevitable for Indonesia.
• Here are eight crucial aspects to consider to ensure Indonesia’s nickel sector’s environmental and economic sustainability.

1. Realigning the nickel industry narrative

• For instance, the narrative around nickel downstreaming, heavily promoted by Jokowi, is often linked to Indonesia’s ambition to become a global EV battery producer.
• In reality, 70% of Indonesia’s nickel is absorbed for stainless steel production, a primary material for items from kitchen utensils to skyscrapers and wind turbines.
• According to Adhiguna, the nickel industry’s strong narrative for EV battery development hinders a comprehensive discussion of its economic and environmental sustainability.

2. Incentives for decarbonisation and waste management

• At the upstream level, emissions arise directly and indirectly from mining equipment and the energy needed for processing).
• Hydrometallurgy – the extraction of nickel with chemical solutions mainly used for producing battery raw materials – generates waste that risks polluting water and soil.
• “From the government itself, I believe there must be incentives for emission reduction,” he asserted.

3. Pressures from consumers

• Indonesian nickel consumers can also play a significant role in demanding sustainable mining and processing practices.
• For instance, Indonesian nickel product users could adopt the European Union’s policy requiring bioenergy only from sustainably managed sources free from deforestation.
• According to him, the most feasible demands for sustainable nickel could come from producers and consumers of electric vehicles and their components, such as batteries.

4. Limiting expansion

• Adhiguna believes restricting the industry’s expansion is a viable solution to address environmental impacts, preserve reserves, and rectify the plummeting nickel prices in the market.
• Nickel ore production is affected by the demand for processing facilities and limiting the number of smelters would gradually improve nickel ore prices.

5. Strengthening exploration and nickel reserve data

• The Indonesian Nickel Miners Association (APNI) stated earlier this year that Indonesia’s high-grade nickel ore reserves, mainly used for steel production, would be depleted within six years.
• Although the government has refuted APNI’s statement, it underscores that Indonesia’s nickel is finite.
• Gani also emphasised the importance of reducing environmental impacts starting from the exploration stage of mining.

6. Evaluating export bans, strengthening cooperation

• Given the unclear trajectory towards EV (with nickel batteries), it’s worth considering whether these incentives are sustainable,” he added.
• Gupta also recommended that the government strengthen international nickel supply chain cooperation rather than impose export bans, which do not always benefit Indonesia.
• Almost 90% of Indonesia’s nickel export is shipped to China.

7. Drafting a comprehensive roadmap

• With China currently experiencing an oversupply of electric batteries, Adhiguna reiterated how important it was for Indonesia to have a far-reaching roadmap for its nickel ambition.
• Meanwhile, Gupta believes Indonesia needs to reassess how far investor interest in developing nickel downstreaming extends.
• After all, nickel is widely used in everyday life, from kitchen utensils and electronic equipment to supporting various industrial sectors.

8. Sustainable mining practices

• By integrating the aspects mentioned above, according to Gani, it’s time for sustainable mining practices to serve more than just a slogan, applied with tightened oversight from the government.
• Indonesia could emulate countries that have successfully implemented sustainable practices, such as Canada with its biomass-powered mining energy sources.

• Leading global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) announced the appointment of Stockholm-based Annika Melin Jakobsson and New York-based Patricia Alonso de la Fuente as Global Transaction Advisory Group (TAG) Managing Directors within its Capital Markets & Accounting Advisory (CMAA) practice.
• Ms. Melin Jakobsson ensures clients’ IPO readiness, and once listed, their alignment with capital markets’ governance, risk and compliance and financial reporting requirements.
• She focuses on IPOs, acquisitions, divestitures, international financial reporting standards (IFRS), US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) conversions and complex technical accounting matters.
• Prior to joining A&M, Ms. Alonso de la Fuente served with KPMG, most recently as Partner in Deal Advisory in New York, along with leading that firm’s Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory Services US-LatAm corridor.

• Dr. Joseph shared, "Superintendents are power people as it relates to improving equitable outcomes in America.
• Black children, particularly Black girls, need committed advocates to advance and accelerate their learning.
• This research is significant because there is currently limited research on the role superintendents play as advocates for social justice, particularly for Black girls.
• Whereas 17% of the U.S. population is Black, just 12% of STEM majors are Black and a mere 2.5% of STEM postdocs are Black.

• The refugee convention (formally, the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees) was established by the UN to protect the millions of people displaced in Europe after the second world war.
• It was expanded beyond Europe with its 1967 protocol, which applied the convention’s protections to all refugees around the world.
• The convention lays out the definition of who counts as a refugee.

Who is a refugee?

• The lack of clear definitions for some of these terms has been seen as a shortcoming of the convention.
• It can lead to variation in how states interpret what should be considered “persecution”.

Discrimination and persecution

• This figure appears to be partly based on summing the number of people living in countries where homosexuality is outlawed.
• The convention itself does not explicitly address gender identity or sexual orientation as grounds for persecution, so it’s largely up to national governments how they assess such cases.
• The UK Home Office states in its guidance for asylum case workers that “someone could face societal discrimination but this will not amount to persecution […unless…] the discrimination has resulted in sufficiently serious consequences for the person concerned”.

Misleading migration figures

• When it comes to migration, politicians have a tendency to use and reproduce, or misinterpret numbers which are not necessarily based upon reliable or rigorous research.
• Additionally, these figures are based on assumptions that everyone affected will move elsewhere, something that our own research has shown to be false.
• This simplistic understanding lies behind the kind of alarmist and unsubstantiated figures underlying Braverman’s calls for changing the convention.