Indonesia's 'Environmental Reckoning' Skirted by Big Capital: The Real Cost of Resource Extraction
📰 THE STORY: The Financial Times reports that Indonesia's President Widodo is revoking mining and plantation permits due to their link to deadly floods, affecting 2,078 permits and aiming to improve environmental governance and prevent future natural disasters. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: Decades of unchecked resource extraction in Indonesia, particularly palm oil and
nickel, have been driven by global demand and backed by Western corporations. The 'New Order' regime of President Suharto (1966-1998), installed after a 1965-66 mass slaughter of up to 1 million alleged communists supported by the US and UK, systematically opened up Indonesia's vast natural resources to foreign investment, laying the groundwork for the very environmental destruction now being
'addressed.' Double Standard: The narrative frames Indonesia as solely responsible for its environmental woes, while Western consumer nations and multinational corporations, whose relentless demand for cheap palm oil, nickel for EV batteries, and other raw materials fuels this destruction, are rarely scrutinized with the same intensity. When similar environmental disasters strike in the Global
South due to resource extraction for Western markets, the corporate beneficiaries are rarely held accountable by the same news outlets that laud 'permit revocations' in the producing nations. Follow the Money: While the Indonesian government 'revokes permits,' the larger system of foreign investment and corporate influence in resource-rich nations remains intact. Multinationals like Glencore