This report discusses the mining industry and the COVID-19 pandemic in the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and Papua New Guinea. In this report, written by a coalition of researchers and mining-affected communities, the authors seek to draw out and expose connections between the social and ecological impacts linked to mining and the pandemic. In many areas the report’s researchers went out into the field and interviewed members of mining-affected communities; in others they organized virtual interviews with communities due to COVID-19 restrictions.
This report is divided into four parts. Firstly the authors examine how mining companies in the region continue to reap benefits from the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondly, they uncover how mining companies and states have sought to use the pandemic as an opportunity to circumvent or roll back regulations that safeguard ecological health and the rights of communities and workers. Thirdly, the authors look at how mining companies, states, and associated actors are using the pandemic as an opportunity to stifle or repress the land, water and human rights defenders protesting their operations, in order to shrink civic space and criminalize protest. Finally, they highlight how affected communities are responding to these threats.
The Coalition Against the Mining Pandemic is a group of environmental justice organizations, networks and initiatives from North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America working in global solidarity with communities, Indigenous peoples and workers to respond to mining abuses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report forms part of a global research collaboration, which includes case studies developed in partnership with communities and grassroots groups in 23 countries. The Coalition has published reports based on parallel analyses in Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America.