Greenpeace warns of harmful rare earth mining, US weapons production

 

Greenpeace Malaysia has reminded the authorities that the mining of rare earth elements (REE) should not be allowed to harm the environment and displace indigenous communities.

Its campaign lead, Heng Kiah Chun, urged the government to conduct REE mining based on the group’s international guiding principles, which prioritise environmental sustainability and the protection of indigenous groups.

This comes in response to the recent Malaysia-US reciprocal trade deal signed last month.

“The most important point is to protect sensitive areas, and respect the indigenous peoples and local communities… because a lot of the REE mining happens in forest areas in Malaysia,” he said at a joint press conference today.

Also present were representatives from Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas (SMSL).

Heng (above) urged Putrajaya to adhere to the following principles for REE mining:

1. Respect no-go zones (areas designated off-limits to mining)

2. Uphold community and indigenous rights through free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC)

3. Ensure strict, independent social and environmental due diligence

He also urged the government to learn from the mistakes of past cases to prevent future environmental and safety disasters.

“As we know, now the Malaysian government has also started many pilot projects, especially in Perak, where they claim that they have a lot of rare earth reserves.

“This is something that we need to pay more attention to. Because, from the case studies of previous mining cases, there are a lot of potential problems that can happen.

Rare earth elements

“From Greenpeace’s side, we have come up with guiding principles for mineral and energy transitions,” he said.

In December 2023, 31 people were arrested for alleged illegal mining of ore deposits containing non-radioactive REE at the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve in Hulu Perak.

Perak police chief Yusri Hassan Basri said then that the police had conducted several raids, with the cooperation of the Perak State Forestry Department, through Op Khazanah, at several locations.

According to Yusri, the detained foreigners aged 23 to 69 included 16 Chinese men, three Myanmar men, one Myanmar woman, and one Vietnamese woman.

Green energy, not weapons

Heng said the guidelines also call for minimising global warming to less than 1.5°C by phasing out fossil fuels and using the mined minerals for green energy transition.

REE mining in the country should be limited to this, he said, and not for the United States to extract Malaysia’s natural resources to produce weapons, in reference to the trade agreement.

“We all know that rare earth is important to make electronic vehicles (EV), solar panels, and so forth. But at the same time, rare earth is also frequently used to make weapons.

“For example, when (US President) Donald Trump came to Ukraine and Malaysia, it was not because he wanted to protect the environment. It is because rare earth is a very important resource for their arms trade.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and US President Donald Trump

“We do not want more war or conflict. So this is something we need to highlight - that we should keep all these minerals for green energy transition efforts only, and not to use them for war or conflict,” he added.

The other guiding principles include prioritising just solutions which do not deepen inequality between the Global North and South, and recycling mineral resources.

Further, Greenpeace and SMSL emphasised that they were not against development, but against improper waste management and pollution.

In 2024, it was reported that the Minerals and Geosciences Department’s records indicated 10 states had been identified as having potential REE.

This included Terengganu, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor, Selangor, and Sarawak, with an estimated value of RM809.6 billion.

In 2024, then-natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said his ministry was examining the Mineral Development Act to make local REE mining more sustainable.

He acknowledged that REE is being used for energy transition, such as EVs, and that industries and consumers are more environmentally conscious now. - Mkini