Mining

The United States (US) is forming resource partnerships in Southeast Asia, through bilateral critical minerals agreements, such as memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and agreements on reciprocal trade (ART), as well as through the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE), a US-led multilateral framework that is reshaping the value capture, control, and risk associated with the regional supply chains.

The Philippines, a nation rich in minerals, stands as a stark example of extractivism, prioritizing resource exploitation for export despite devastating environmental and social costs. 

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.