THE NICKEL PARADOX: CSR LIMITATIONS AND SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL DISRUPTIONS IN CENTRAL HALMAHERA
Abstract
Nickel downstreaming is considered a key step in boosting Indonesia's economic growth. However, nickel mining practices remain a serious issue, particularly in terms of their impact on local communities and the environment. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) aimed at balancing economic benefits with local and environmental sustainability is often seen as inadequately implemented by companies. This study examines the socio-ecological impacts of nickel mining at PT IWIP in Central Halmahera, focusing on the effects of CSR initiatives on local communities and the environment. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with local community members, government representatives, and NGOs, along with participatory observation. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes from participants’ perspectives. The study found that while PT IWIP’s CSR programs improved infrastructure and social access, the benefits were unevenly distributed, with marginalized groups receiving limited support. Furthermore, ecological degradation from mining activities increased the vulnerability of local communities to natural disasters. This research contributes to the understanding of CSR in resource extraction industries, emphasizing the need for more inclusive and sustainable CSR practices to address socio-ecological risks. The study recommends PT IWIP revise its CSR strategy to focus on long-term sustainability and inclusive community development.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Afiat, Muhammad Nur, La Tondi, and Sahindomi Bana. 2018. “The Optimization Role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) In a Nickel Mining Company Improving the Welfare of the Communities in North Konawe.” Journal of Business and Management 20(7):76–80. doi: 10.9790/487X-2007037680.
Alecu, Andreea, Håvard Helland, Johs Hjellbrekke, and Vegard Jarness. 2022. “Who You Know: The Classed Structure of Social Capital.” British Journal of Sociology 73(3):505–35. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12945.
Alputra Sudirman, Faturachman, Ambo Upe, La Ode Herman, and Fera Tri Susilawaty. 2021. “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Contribution to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Southeast Sulawesi.” Pp. 3408–16 in International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management.
Amiruddin, Ahmad, Roger Dargaville, Ariel Liebman, and Ross Gawler. 2024. “Integration of Electric Vehicles and Renewable Energy in Indonesia’s Electrical Grid.” Energies 17(9). doi: 10.3390/en17092037.
Beck, Ulrich. 1992. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. 1st ed. London: SAGE Publications. Camba, Alvin. 2021. “The Unintended Consequences of National Regulations: Large-Scale-Small-Scale Relations in Philippine and Indonesian Nickel Mining.” Resources Policy 74(1):1–10. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102213.
Chernilo, Daniel. 2021. “One Globalisation or Many? Risk Society in the Age of the Anthropocene.” Journal of Sociology 57(1):12–26. doi: 10.1177/1440783321997563.
Creswell, John W., and J. David Creswell. 2023. Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 6th ed. London: SAGE Publications.
Damanik, Natalina, Ririen Clara Octavia, and Dzikri Firmansyah Hakam. 2024. “Powering Indonesia’s Future: Reviewing the Road to Electric Vehicles Through Infrastructure, Policy, and Economic Growth.” Energies 17(24).
Füzér, Katalin, Ákos Huszár, Ákos Bodor, Lajos Bálint, and Attila Pirmajer. 2020. “Social Capitals, Social Class, and Prosperity in High-Trust and Low-Trust Societies.” International Journal of Sociology 50(1):48–67. doi: 10.1080/00207659.2019.1684081.
Genchi, Giuseppe, Alessia Carocci, Graziantonio Lauria, Maria Stefania Sinicropi, and Alessia Catalano. 2020. “Nickel: Human Health and Environmental Toxicology.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(3).
Han, Guanghua, and Yida Zhai. 2022. “Risk Society and the Politics of Food Safety Problems in China.” Japanese Journal of Political Science 23(1):73–87. doi: 10.1017/S1468109921000372.
Hasyim, Wirman Syafri, Nurliah Nurdin, and Mansyur Achmad. 2024. “Enhancing Socio-Economic Dynamics: Assessing Regional Governance and Mining Community Benefits Post Law Number 3 of 2020 in North Maluku.” Jurnal Aristo (Social, Politic, Humaniora) 12(2):575–93. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24269/ars.v12i2.8944.
Hudayana, Bambang, Suharko, and A. B. Widyanta. 2020. “Communal Violence as a Strategy for Negotiation: Community Responses to Nickel Mining Industry in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.” Extractive Industries and Society 7(4):1547–56. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2020.08.012.
Industrial Park, Indonesia Weda Bay. n.d. “Perjalanan CSR - PT Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park.” Https://Iwip.Co.Id/Perjalanan-Csr/. Juniarti. 2020. “Does Mandatory CSR Provide Long-Term Benefits to Shareholders?” Social Responsibility Journal 17(6):776–94. doi: 10.1108/SRJ-03-2019-0114.
Kasnar, Suliamin, Sofyan Sjaf, Hermanto Siregar, and Sri Mulatsih. 2024. “Policy Strategy: Nickel Mining Contribution to Rural Development Equity and Social Violence Minimization in Kolaka Regency.” Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development 8(7). doi: 10.24294/jipd.v8i7.5099.
Kim, Ji Hye, and Claire Seungeun Lee. 2021. “Social Capital and Subjective Social Status: Heterogeneity within East Asia.” Social Indicators Research 154(3):789–813. doi: 10.1007/s11205-020-02548-9.
Konewka, Tomasz, Joanna Bednarz, and Tomasz Czuba. 2021. “Building a Competitive Advantage for Indonesia in the Development of the Regional EV Battery Chain.” Energies 14(21). doi: 10.3390/en14217332.
Kousar, Shazia, Aamir Inam Bhutta, Muhammad Rizwan Ullah, and Aiza Shabbir. 2023. “Impact of Economic and Green Growth on Poverty, Income Inequalities, and Environmental Degradation: A Case of South Asian Economies.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research 30(12):35200–213. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-24191-2.
Kumar, Amit, Dharmendra K. Jigyasu, Amit Kumar, Gangavarapu Subrahmanyam, Raju Mondal, Aftab A. Shabnam, M. M. S. Cabral-Pinto, Sandeep K. Malyan, Ashish K. Chaturvedi, Dipak Kumar Gupta, Ram Kishor Fagodiya, Shakeel A. Khan, and Arti Bhatia. 2021. “Nickel in Terrestrial Biota: Comprehensive Review on Contamination, Toxicity, Tolerance and Its Remediation Approaches.” Chemosphere 275(1):1–16. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129996.
Lèbre, Éléonore, Martin Stringer, Kamila Svobodova, John R. Owen, Deanna Kemp, Claire Côte, Andrea Arratia-Solar, and Rick K. Valenta. 2020. “The Social and Environmental Complexities of Extracting Energy Transition Metals.” Nature Communications 11(1). doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18661-9.
Lin, Nan. 2001. Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lo, Michaela G. Y., Courtney L. Morgans, Truly Santika, Sonny Mumbunan, Nurul Winarni, Jatna Supriatna, Maria Voigt, Zoe G. Davies, and Matthew J. Struebig. 2024. “Nickel Mining Reduced Forest Cover in Indonesia but Had Mixed Outcomes for Well-Being.” One Earth 7(11):2019–33. doi: 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.10.010.
Mikiewicz, Piotr. 2021. “Social Capital and Education–An Attempt to Synthesize Conceptualization Arising from Various Theoretical Origins.” Cogent Education 8(1):1–15.
Mythen, Gabe. 2021. “The Critical Theory of World Risk Society: A Retrospective Analysis.” Risk Analysis 41(3):533–43. doi: 10.1111/risa.13159.
Nasution, Miftahul Jannah, Tugiyono, Samsul Bakri, Agus Setiawan, Murhadi, Christine Wulandari, and Endro Prasetyo Wahono. 2024. “The Impact of Increasing Nickel Production on Forest and Environment in Indonesia: A Review.” Jurnal Sylva Lestari 12(3):549–79.
Nugroho, Deinera P. D., Yi Hsu, Christian Hartauer, and Andreas Hartauer. 2024. “Investigating the Interconnection between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategies: An Examination of the Influence on Consumer Behavior.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 16(2). doi: 10.3390/su16020614.
Ofosu, George, Andreas Dittmann, David Sarpong, and David Botchie. 2020. “Socio-Economic and Environmental Implications of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) on Agriculture and Livelihoods.” Environmental Science and Policy 106:210–20.
Palpacuer, Florence, and Clara Roussey. 2023. “Entangling Global Chains of Wealth and Value through CSR-Ization: A Critical Polanyian Perspective on Weda Bay Nickel.” Environment and Planning A. doi: 10.1177/0308518X231191946.
Pons, Adrià, Carla Vintrò, Josep Rius, and Jordi Vilaplana. 2021. “Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility in Mining Industries.” Resources Policy 72. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102117.
Prasetio, J., Sabihaini, B. Bintarto, A. Susanto, G. Rahmanda, Rusdiyanto, A. Rochman, and N. Kalbuana. 2021. “Corporate Social Responsibility Community Development And Empowerment Program In Indonesia.” Journal of Management Information and Decision Sciences 24(1):1–10.
Prematuri, Ricksy, Maman Turjaman, Takumi Sato, and Keitaro Tawaraya. 2020. “The Impact of Nickel Mining on Soil Properties and Growth of Two Fast-Growing Tropical Trees Species.” International Journal of Forestry Research 2020(1):1–9. doi: 10.1155/2020/8837590.
Rela, I. Zainuddin, M. Zamrun Firihu, A. Hair Awang, M. Iswandi, J. Abdul Malek, A. Nikoyan, L. Nalefo, H. Batoa, and S. Salahuddin. 2021. “Formation of Farming Community Resilience Models for Sustainable Agricultural Development at the Mining Neighborhood in Southeast Sulawesi Indonesia.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 13(2):1–17. doi: 10.3390/su13020878.
Rela, Iskandar Zainuddin, Abd Hair Awang, Zaimah Ramli, Yani Taufik, Sarmila Md. Sum, and Mahazan Muhammad. 2020. “Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Community Resilience: Empirical Evidence in the Nickel Mining Industry in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 12(4):1–17. doi: 10.3390/su12041395.
Sangaji, Julfikar, Melky Nahar, and Nurkholis Hamid. 2024. Penaklukan Dan Perampokan Halmahera: IWIP Sebagai Etalase Kejahatan Strategis Nasional Negara-Korporasi.
Saraswati, Erwin, Ananda Sagitaputri, and Yan Rahadian. 2020. “Political Connections and CSR Disclosures in Indonesia.” Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business 7(11):1097–1104. doi: 10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no11.1097.
Sovacool, Benjamin K. 2024. “The Low-Carbon Risk Society: Dilemmas of Risk–Risk Tradeoffs in Energy Innovations, Transitions, and Climate Policy.” Risk Analysis 45(1):78–107. doi: 10.1111/risa.14667.
Tarigan, Josua, Amelia Rika Sanchia Susanto, Saarce Elsye Hatane, Ferry Jie, and Foedjiawati Foedjiawati. 2020. “Corporate Social Responsibility, Job Pursuit Intention, Quality of Work Life and Employee Performance: Case Study from Indonesia Controversial Industry.” Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration 13(2):141–58. doi: 10.1108/APJBA-09-2019-0189.
Tasci, Asli D. A., Wei Wei, and Ady Milman. 2020. “Uses and Misuses of the Case Study Method.” Annals of Tourism Research 82(4):1–7. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2019.102815.
Tela, Irvan Aditya, and Zhang Yu. 2025. “Examining the Global Perception of Nickel Mining Environmental Impact: A Case Study of China-Indonesia Public Opinion on Earth’s Sustainability.” Pp. 22–42 in International Conference on Strategic and Global Studies.
Veza, Ibham, Mohd Azman Abas, Djati Wibowo Djamari, Noreffendy Tamaldin, Fitri Endrasari, Bentang Arief Budiman, Muhammad Idris, Anthony C. Opia, Firman Bagja Juangsa, and Muhammad Aziz. 2022. “Electric Vehicles in Malaysia and Indonesia: Opportunities and Challenges.” Energies 15(7):1–24. doi: 10.3390/en15072564.
Wesselow, Maren. 2023. “Not All Social Capital Is Equal: Conceptualizing Social Capital Differences in Cities.” Urban Science 7(2). doi: 10.3390/urbansci7020049.
Wijaya, Trissia, and Lian Sinclair. 2024. “An EV-Fix for Indonesia: The Green Development-Resource Nationalist Nexus.” Environmental Politics 34(2):252–74. doi: 10.1080/09644016.2024.2332129.
Wolff, Lili Ann. 2020. “Sustainability Education in Risks and Crises: Lessons from Covid-19.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 12(12).
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
