Indonesia stands at a crossroads: by channelling the spirit of Bandung, it can lead the Global South in forging fairer, greener multilateral mining frameworks.
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This article is part of the series—Jakarta Edit 2025
2025 marks the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, held in Indonesia in April 1955 by newly independent African and Asian states to combat colonialism and neocolonialism. However, this year’s anniversary was not marked by any major political event, unlike 2015, when the 60th anniversary of the summit was commemorated. According to a recent article in The Economist, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) may have transformed into a group that ‘can now claim to unite big non-Western countries’. The presence of China and Russia—two countries that claim to exert global influence and power—in BRICS, combined with its relatively small membership of 11 members and 9 partners, makes for a limited comparison. However, according to expert Anit Mukherjee from the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) America, the recent integration of Indonesia into the group could be an opportunity to recreate an IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa)+ Indonesia group to synergise and strengthen efforts to reform multilateral institutions. This could also be an opportunity for the Indo-Pacific to leverage its regional powers and smaller nations, such as the small island developing states, to utilise their unique geopolitical positions to foster global cooperation. This can be the case in advancing the interests of Global South countries in the global green transition. This prompts an alignment at both the domestic and international levels.
While the international community, for the most part, has agreed on the need to tackle climate change and foster a global green transition, in practice, the promotion of the green transition in the Global South that produces critical minerals has primarily been geared towards exporting raw materials to fulfill the needs of richer nations.
While the international community, for the most part, has agreed on the need to tackle climate change and foster a global green transition, in practice, the promotion of the green transition in the Global South that produces critical minerals has primarily been geared towards exporting raw materials to fulfill the needs of richer nations. These ores, such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt, are essential for the development of green technologies, including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, solar panels, and battery storage systems. Despite repeated calls to invest in greater mineral processing and manufacturing capabilities in the Global South, most of the value addition continues to occur outside the Global South, primarily in China. As a result, the promises of economic dividends for developing countries rich in minerals — such as Argentina, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia, among others — have fallen short. As an International Institute for Sustainable Development article underlines, ‘importing countries such as the United States, the European Union, and China prioritise affordable and stable access to raw materials, often because they also want to maximise domestic value addition. These opposing goals lead to trade-offs, especially around downstream processing and refining.’
The Indonesian government enacted export bans on nickel ore in 2014 and 2020 in a bid to bolster investment in domestic processing and refining and to overcome the aforementioned challenge. According to Hilman Palaon and Robert Walker, this policy has resulted in stronger ties between Indonesia and China, as well as economic growth in Indonesian nickel exploitation regions. The growth in Konawe district jumped from 6.1 percent in 2015 to 22.5 percent in 2023, largely owing to nickel smelting.
However, much like several Indonesian experts, Palaon and Walker highlight that these dividends have not been distributed to the local population. Not only has the creation of local jobs remained limited, but the impact of nickel industries on workers’ health and the environment raises serious questions regarding the human and ecological costs of nickel industry expansion. Palaon and Walker note that ‘poverty rose from 12.6 per cent in 2022 to 13 per cent in 2023, and unemployment remains above pre-export ban levels.’ In a 2023 article, Indonesian expert Alvin Camba explains how nickel exploitation has led to mass deforestation in the mining region of Sulawesi, making periodic rains ‘more and more devastating’. Camba additionally notes that the export ban led to an oligopsony — the nickel market being dominated by a few buyers — leading mining firms to ‘cut corners’, such as illicit waste dumping, to reduce expenses and make up for the resulting low price of the nickel ore.
Jakarta can shift its strategy and adapt its policies to be responsible, human-centred, and environmentally focused, becoming a leader among Global South producer countries.. Such leadership could foster learning and skill exchanges, promote a green industrialisation that is more respectful of the environment — and is as green as it can be — and develop strategies to build bargaining power in the face of foreign investors.
Populations bear the brunt of these dynamics. Camba, along with many Indonesian civil society organisations such as Jaringan Advokasi Tambang, has alerted the Indonesian policy sector and the international community about the disastrous consequences for populations and the environment. Furthermore, Camba also notes that deforestation and sea pollution have negatively impacted fishing and farming, pushing workers to turn to jobs in the mining sector.
This dire situation not only affects Indonesia but also every mining-rich country in the Global South, as these states continue to face an inequitable balance of power and struggle to build their bargaining power. However, Indonesia is uniquely positioned to leverage its experience in developing a strategic policy for nickel exploitation to address the challenges posed by foreign companies, as well as the vibrant local civil society’s work in advancing the rights of impacted communities and protecting the environment. Jakarta can shift its strategy and adapt its policies to be responsible, human-centred, and environmentally focused, becoming a leader among Global South producer countries.. Such leadership could foster learning and skill exchanges, promote a green industrialisation that is more respectful of the environment — and is as green as it can be — and develop strategies to build bargaining power in the face of foreign investors.
This is certainly a bold and ambitious call, made at a time when states are turning inward to advance their interests at the expense of multilateralism and collaboration. Competition among mineral-rich countries is intense, but a long-term approach and cooperation are necessary to address current global market demands while helping systemically disadvantaged countries leverage their resources for the benefit of their populations and preserving the global commons. The idea of creating a critical minerals club or cartel, similar to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is frequently discussed among policy experts. The fact that oil-rich countries succeeded in creating this forum demonstrates that competition does not have to be a zero-sum game. It can create mutual benefits for cartel members and their populations if leveraged well at the multilateral and domestic levels.
The time is ripe for the Indonesian government to re-embrace these values and become a regional and global leader in rebuilding multilateralism and advancing the interests of populations across the Global South.
At a time when the BRICS countries, of which Indonesia has recently become a member, are calling for greater south-south collaboration, the Indonesian government has an opportunity to build a bridge with Indonesian experts and civil society to integrate recommendations into its domestic and foreign policy. In August 2024, Progressive International published a Programme of Action for the Construction of a New International Economic Order, the result of collaborative work by researchers, including myself, from around the world. Among the prescriptions were the establishment of a Common Framework for Extraction, an Energy Authority of the South and Resource Sellers’ Clubs. These ideas were particularly interesting as foundations for building equitable south-south and north-south multilateralism in the exploitation of critical minerals and the advancement of green industrialisation and transition. Implementing these recommendations would require Southern governments to overcome increasing geopolitical tensions. However, Indonesia benefits from its own legacy of non-alignment, the Bandung Conference, and the fight for the establishment of a new international economic order in the 1970s. The time is ripe for the Indonesian government to re-embrace these values and become a regional and global leader in rebuilding multilateralism and advancing the interests of populations across the Global South.
Aude Darnal is a Research Analyst and Manager at the Global South in the World Order Project, Stimson Centre, and a "Planetary Politics Senior Fellow at New America, United States.
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Aude Darnal is a Research Analyst and Project Manager at the Stimson Center. ...
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