NICKEL RUSH: THE DIRTY SIDE OF THE GREEN TRANSITION

Caraga Region, Mindanao, Philippines - November 2025

In the Caraga region, in northeastern Mindanao, most of the Philippine nickel industry is concentrated. The Philippines is currently the world’s second-largest producer (after Indonesia), and almost all of the raw ore is exported to China, where it feeds the supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, stainless steel, electronics and, in part, military manufacturing.

During the trip, I gained access to a 250-hectare mine on Dinagat Island, operational since 2023, and documented the site’s operations, land management and the visible impact on the surrounding landscape.

Nickel is considered a strategic metal for the energy transition. It allows the production of more efficient batteries, with longer range and a lower cobalt content. But behind the push for a “green transition” lie lesser-known effects: deforestation, more frequent flooding, turbid waters and mudflows sliding down mountains stripped of vegetation. The communities paying the highest price are the rural ones.

Farmers in Caraga report entire harvests lost after every heavy rainfall, respiratory problems, difficulty accessing clean water and increasingly polluted rivers. In the coastal villages, sediment washed down from the mountains is reducing fishing areas and altering local ecosystems.

In this reportage — filmed across Butuan, Surigao, Dinagat, Madrid and Claver — I interviewed the mine’s management, several local farmers and Monsignor Porfirio C. Colón Jr., director of the Social Action Center of Butuan, who has been monitoring the social and environmental impacts of mining in the region for years.

According to Monsignor Porfirio C., the loss of vegetation and the erosion of mountain slopes are making the region increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change: stronger typhoons, heavier storm surges and sudden rains that trigger landslides and flooding. During my stay, the area was hit by Typhoon Fung-wong, which further highlighted the fragility of the region — already severely affected in the past by intense storms such as Typhoon Tino in 2021.

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