New Indonesian industrial park on Borneo, feted as ‘green,’ will be powered by coal, report says

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A vast industrial park being built on the tropical island of Borneo that has attracted billions of dollars in foreign and domestic investment is damaging the environment in an area where endangered animals live and migrate. “In a world already living with climate stress, each of these countries is grappling with how to be part of the solution while also protecting clean water, healthy fisheries, Indigenous people’s rights and habitat for other species pushed to the edge.” Kampung Baru village lies on the edge of the construction site of the Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia, right, in Mangkupadi, North Kalimantan, Indonesia on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. But CELIOS’s analysis says coal-fired plants will provide a significant amount of the power it uses, including some 1,425 to 1,900 MW for the aluminum smelter that is advertising “green aluminum.” Workers ride their motorbikes on a road leading to the construction site of the Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia in Mangkupadi, North Kalimantan, Indonesia on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. Outfits used at the construction site hang to dry outside the dormitory for workers of the the Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia in Kampung Baru, Bulungan regency, North Kalimantan, Indonesia on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. A truck carrying a water tank sprays the dirt road to reduce dust at Mangkupadi village near the construction site of the Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia in North Kalimantan, Indonesia on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023.