{"id":13,"date":"2025-10-01T10:08:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T03:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.bersihkanbankmu.org\/?p=13"},"modified":"2026-01-15T10:13:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T03:13:06","slug":"bank-harus-berhenti-mendanai-nikel-bertenaga-batu-bara-milik-grup-harita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bersihkanbankmu.org\/en\/bank-harus-berhenti-mendanai-nikel-bertenaga-batu-bara-milik-grup-harita\/","title":{"rendered":"Banks Should Stop Funding Coal-Powered Nickel of Harita Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jakarta, 1 October 2025<\/strong> \u2014 Civil society groups Market Forces, Enter Nusantara, JATAM, Trend Asia, and two pastors from Obi Island have staged a theatrical protest outside Jakarta offices of banks financing Harita Group\u2019s nickel smelter operations on Obi Island, North Maluku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The groups unveiled a striking Trojan Horse installation to symbolize how banks are disguising coal finance as necessary behind the clean \u2018energy transition\u2019 agenda. Nickel is being framed as critical for electric vehicles and renewable energy, but Harita\u2019s smelters on Obi Island are powered by massive new captive coal plants, undermining the company\u2019s commitments to global climate goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harita\u2019s operations already emit nearly 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, nearly 1% of Indonesia\u2019s 2023 emissions. Toxic pollution from Harita operations are undermining global climate goals as they are set to double to 22.45 million tonnes by 2028 if current expansion plans proceed, locking in decades of dangerous pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no room for new coal power in a world aiming to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees as agreed in the Paris Agreement, according to scientists and experts, including the International Energy Agency<\/a> and International Institute for Sustainable Development<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ginanjar Ariyasuta, Market Forces campaigner said:

\n\u201cSingaporean and Malaysian banks, including OCBC, UOB, DBS, Maybank, and CIMB have public coal exclusion policies, claiming they will no longer fund new coal power projects.\u201d\n\u201cSoutheast Asia\u2019s biggest banks are violating their sustainability commitments by financing companies like Harita, whose nickel smelters rely on 890 MW of new industrial coal plants. Planned construction would double up to 2.1 GW, polluting coal power generation in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramadhan, Enter Nusantara Action Coordinator said:

\n\u201cAs climate disasters worsen, it is time Indonesia\u2019s banks come clean, dump coal power and do what\u2019s best for Indonesians by supporting clean energy and a safer future.\u201d \n\u201cRecently, Bank Mandiri provided IDR 3.1 trillion in financing for Harita\u2019s smelter projects. To limit global warming to 1.5-degrees, the science is clear: there must be no new coal power plants.\u201d

\n\u201cIndonesian banks must stop funding dirty energy projects immediately and shift their financing toward renewable energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alfarhat Kasman, JATAM campaigner said:

\n\u201cHarita\u2019s upstream mining operations on Obi Island have already caused severe environmental destruction and human rights violations.\u201d

\n\u201cLocal communities report long-term contamination of water sources with toxic chromium-6 far above safe levels, and there are well-documented cases of forced evictions of Indigenous residents living in areas affected by Harita\u2019s operations.\u201d\n\u201cBanks should not be complicit in financing a company that harms both people and our precious environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPendanaan batu bara dengan dalih nikel untuk baterai kendaraan listrik hanyalah bentuk transition-washing<\/em>. Batu bara tetaplah bahan bakar fosil paling kotor, meskipun dibungkus dengan janji kendaraan listrik dan energi bersih. Bank yang mendanai Harita bukan mendukung transisi energi berkeadilan, tetapi justru memperparah kerusakan lingkungan dan menghambat usaha mencapai Perjanjian Paris.\u201d jelas Novita Indri, Juru Kampanye Trend Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The action concluded with the submission of a report and open letter by two pastors from Obi Island. They demand that OCBC, UOB, DBS, Maybank, CIMB, and Bank Mandiri end new financial support for Harita Group, and redirect funding to projects that advance a just and sustainable energy transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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