Russia’s Northern Peoples Call on Tesla Not to Buy from Nornikel

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 7 – The Aborigen Forum, which brings together representatives of the numerically small nationalities of the Russian North, has called on Elon Musk, the head of the US-based Tesla Company, not to purchase any nickel, copper or other products from Russia’s Nornikel corporation until the latter addresses the harm it has inflicted on these peoples.

            The Aborigen Forum, long involved in analyzing legal arrangements Moscow has established but often not enforced in the North and on the lack of correspondence between these arrangements and internationally established rules, has taken this step after Musk appealed for companies to mine more nickel (reuters.com/article/us-tesla-nickel/please-mine-more-nickel-musk-urges-as-tesla-boosts-production-idUSKCN24O0RV).

            In the wake of Vladimir Putin’s moves to take Russia out of any international legal arrangements Moscow doesn’t like, this effort to involve a Western corporation on the side of the victims of the Kremlin’s environmental policies has the potential to give them new leverage because it affects one thing Putin seems to care about, his own personal profits.

            And Musk’s corporation, like other Western firms, may feel compelled to listen because at least some of its stockowners take seriously environmental concerns and may be in a position to pressure him to pressure Moscow to end the despoiling of the Arctic and the lives of its indigenous populations. 

            Specifically, Aborigen says that it is “respectfully requesting that you DO NOT BUY nickel, copper and other products from Nornikel until the following steps are taken:

“1. Nornikel conducts a full and independent assessment of the environmental damage of mining for nickel and other metals in Russia’s Taymyr Peninsula and Murmansk Oblast. The assessment should include the harm from the ongoing Norilsk diesel oil spill and consider the damage done by industrial production to traditional economic activities of indigenous peoples.

“2. Nornikel compensates indigenous communities for the damages done to their traditional way of life.

“3. Nornikel prepares and implements a plan for re-cultivating contaminated lands in the Taymyr Peninsula and Murmansk Oblast.

“4. Nornikel revises its policies for engaging with indigenous peoples. The new guidelines must be informed by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the need to obtain free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting indigenous lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.

“We are writing to you following the media coverage of your appeal for mining companies to produce more nickel to fully address production needs of Tesla. Your proposal mentions that Tesla is prepared to offer nickel producers “giant” long-term contracts if they are able to produce nickel effectively and environmentally safely.  

“As you know, the Russian company Nornikel is a global leader in nickel production. In Russia, its principal places of business are the Taymyr Peninsula and Murmansk Oblast, where the company mines for and processes ore. The company is also a global leader in environmental pollution, which is especially dangerous given the Nornikel’s presence in the Arctic region where the environment is particularly vulnerable and it could take decades to recover from a single incident.

“The Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the Arctic have been living in the Taymyr Peninsula and Murmansk Oblast for generations. The Sámi, Nentsy, Nganasan, Entsy, Dolgan and Evenki communities have preserved the traditional life, culture, and economy of Northern peoples, including reindeer herding, hunting and fishing. Indigenous people view clean environment as a key factor for survival in harsh northern conditions.   

“You may be aware of the Norilsk oil spill that began on May 29, 2020. One of Nornikel’s power plants flooded local rivers with up to 21,000 tons of diesel oil. The incident was the second-largest environmental disaster in the Arctic region, after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

“The contaminated rivers in Taymyr are traditionally used by the local indigenous communities for fishing. The ongoing ecological catastrophe is the largest in Nornikel’s portfolio but it is not an isolated incident. Environmental pollution in the company’s mining for nickel and other metals is a routine occurrence in the Taymyr Peninsula and Murmansk Oblast. The lands of indigenous people appropriated by the company for industrial production now resemble a lunar landscape, and traditional use of these lands is no longer possible.

“We are aware of Tesla Inc.’s policies on human rights. The Company’s Code of Conduct for suppliers prescribes minimizing negative impact on the environment in all activities in order for the global economy to transition to sustainable energy. We call on Tesla, Inc. to refrain from cooperation with Nornickel and announce this decision publicly, until the abovementioned policies are implemented by the Russian nickel supplier” (indigenous-russia.com/archives/5788#_edn1)

            The appeal is already attracting some attention in the Russian media (thebarentsobserver.com/ru/ekologiya/2020/08/rossiyskie-korennye-narody-prizvali-ilona-maska-ne-zakupat-metally-dlya,  novayagazeta.ru/news/2020/08/07/163599-korennye-narody-rossiyskogo-severa-poprosili-ilona-maska-otkazatsya-ot-produktsii-nornikelya and meduza.io/en/news/2020/08/07/indigenous-groups-in-northern-russia-ask-elon-musk-to-boycott-russian-mining-company-nornickel).

            The story is beginning to spread to Western outlets (steelguru.com/metal/aborigen-forum-appeals-to-elon-musk-to-stop-buying-nickel-from-norlisk/562003); and one can only hope that such attention will prompt Musk and other Western businessmen to demand that Nornikel and other Russian companies operate according to international norms.