Philippine environmental groups demand strict limits on mining

As the Philippines works to ramp up mining to meet global demand for metals during the green energy transition, environmental groups in the country are demanding strict limits to protect nature and land.

The Southeast Asian country has the world’s fourth-largest copper reserves, fifth biggest nickel deposits and is also rich in cobalt, all of which have important uses in clean energy technologies, from lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) to solar panels.

Mineral requirements for renewable energy technologies must be quadrupled by 2040 to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. The World Bank estimates a 500% increase in the demand for transition minerals.

That is encouraging mineral-rich countries like the Philippines, where mining is relatively undeveloped and accounts for only 1% of gross domestic product (GDP), to boost their production of so-called critical minerals.

According to a study in 2023 by the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Centre (LRC), a local non-profit organisation that works for environmental rights, the global area covered by mines has doubled over the past three years, driven by demand for critical minerals.

In the Philippines, the group says, that has exacerbated mining’s negative impacts on people and the environment such as depleting water supplies and forcing local residents to move elsewhere.

The LRC held that the country should mine what is absolutely necessary and source them responsibly. It is calling for a new mining law that would only permit the indispensable extraction of critical minerals, and seeking to prohibit destructive open-pit mining or mining in sensitive ecosystem, and hike taxes on the companies to give great benefits to local communities.

A draft bill filed by lawmakers and supported by the LRC in 2021 is still pending in the Philippine Congress