JUNE is Environment Month. We all love Mother Nature and want to protect her. But then it gets complicated. Take the news that 26,617 trees are going to be cut in Palawan. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has given Berong Nickel Corp. the green light to cut the trees and earthball 43,743 saplings. News reports are silent as to the exact location, but Berong Nickel Corp. secured a mineral production sharing agreement for its Long Point nickel mining project in Barangay Apurawan, Aborlan, last August.
The Philippines ranks second to Indonesia among nickel-producing nations. Most of the Philippines’ nickel is exported as raw ore, primarily to China. Here, it is not only processed, but it is also an indispensable component in renewable energy-related technologies, including electric vehicle (EV) batteries and battery storage (for wind and solar energy). Nickel ore is also used in the manufacturing of stainless steel.
The demand for nickel as well as lithium, graphite, cobalt and rare earth minerals is expected to “rise by at least four times by 2040 to meet climate goals, with particularly high growth for EV-related minerals,” according to a 2024 report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Higher demand usually means higher prices, and thus greater incentive for countries with reserves of these minerals to mine them. The Philippines sits on an estimated $170 billion worth of nickel deposits located in Zambales, Palawan, Dinagat and Surigao, according to US government data.
Rising global demand, significant reserves in the underground, a skilled and experienced workforce, and most recently, a favorable Supreme Court decision. The Philippine mining industry just scored a victory with the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the petition for the issuance of a writ of kalikasan filed against a mining operator in Manicani, Eastern Samar. The Supreme Court found the petition to be grounded on speculation rather than scientific evidence (GR 262969, Jan. 28, 2026). The ruling marks the end of the “era of trial by sentiment,” in the words of the Philippine Nickel Industry Association. Obviously, if we want to embrace the “energy transition” — from coal to clean renewables, from gasoline and diesel to electric — we need nickel. We can’t get the nickel without mining. And mining destroys the natural environment. We can’t both have our cake and eat it too.
That is, maybe we can. But we need a paradigm shift. First of all, we need to see the irony in the fact that while the energy transition is predominantly taking place in the Global North and in relatively affluent and developed urban centers in the Global South, the minerals are being mined in remote, often neglected rural areas in the Global South.
This irony was captured succinctly by Lien de Brouckere, global batteries lead of international environmental NGO Gaia. In her introduction to Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon’s book “Life After Cars,” de Brouckere pointed out that minerals needed to make EV batteries are “extracted from communities in the Global South, who are once again being asked to bear the cost of someone else’s transition.”
Beyond simply replacing a combustion vehicle with an electric one, we need to take a hard look at our way of life — and the dominant economic models — that are built around unsustainable production, unsustainable consumption and unsustainable waste. A radical change of perspective and in line with a zero waste approach is that the “most sustainable battery was the one that was not manufactured. The best harm-avoidance strategy is the mineral that was not extracted.” The conversation with Goodyear and Gordon, moderated by de Brouckere, was aptly titled “Greening Transport Beyond EVs: From Swapping Engines to Swapping Systems” (April 22, 2026).
The energy transition as we know it cannot come without the extraction of minerals from the underground. If not in the Philippines, then somewhere else. Recycling of EV batteries is evolving. But considering the fast-increasing demand for renewable energy technologies, estimates of the extent to which recycled minerals could replace the need for new supply remain just that — estimates. Battery recycling, that is, recovery of the precious minerals, can be harmful to workers and the environment if not done correctly. This process has not been perfected yet. Used EV batteries are considered hazardous waste.
The controversial tree-cutting along Quirino Avenue in Metro Manila to make space for an elevated expressway was put on hold after public outcry. But beyond this particular expressway, there is the larger issue of how our urban centers have evolved and continue to evolve. And while replacing combustion vehicles with electric ones will improve air quality, the traffic and the concrete will remain. We must consider “swapping the system” rather than simply transferring the burden of pollution, environmental damage, and health risks onto other communities.
