Mining

Despite the claims of the CM2CET’s frameworks, civil society organizations, environmental defenders, and communities are raising urgent concerns. Beneath the “green and sustainable” promises, climate-smart mining is just a rebranding of destructive mining, one that threatens already fragile ecosystems, displaces Indigenous peoples, and ignores the deeper roots of the climate crisis.

Climate-smart mining appears to be a better alternative to traditional mining, known for its destructive nature. By hyphenating ‘climate’ with smart mining, it is a repackaged tool to attract the mineral-rich but developing countries. 

Southeast Asia’s geographical location is blessed with abundant natural resources – minerals, forests, and wildlife. For hundreds of years, these resources have been a source of livelihood and even life for Indigenous peoples, as well as local communities. However, the capitalist perspective of development is rapidly encroaching on the mineral-rich lands of these peoples.