Environmental groups have urged the Tesla company to reconsider its plans to invest in nickel in Indonesia, the world's leading producer of this crucial material for electric vehicles.
In a letter to CEO Elon Musk and shareholders, dozens of organizations have called on the electric vehicle giant to stop investment plans in the nickel industry and ban the use of domestically sourced and produced metal. Asian in Tesla cars.
"The nickel industry in Indonesia has a history of environmental damage and threats to vulnerable groups and multiple violations of the law," they comment in the letter, signed by groups representing Indonesian and American civil society. Representatives from Tesla and the Indonesian government have not yet responded to the letter.
The letter warns that Tesla's nickel mining plan in Indonesia would reduce the country's forests, potentially contaminate water and disrupt the lives of indigenous communities. Environmental groups also point to Wawonii Island, in the Sulawesi region of southeastern Indonesia, as a particularly vulnerable area and have warned that mining there has already damaged coral reefs.
Indonesia, which holds almost a quarter of the world's nickel reserves, has attracted the giants of the electric vehicle sector. The metal is a crucial component in many batteries, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo has offered Musk the opportunity to invest in an electric vehicle supply chain, CNBC reports.
For his part, Musk has said that acquiring more nickel is a priority for Tesla as the automaker ramps up production. “Please, extract more nickel”, he wrote two years ago to the producers of this metal.
