The research details how UK financial institutions, corporations and investors are connected to deforestation, mining operations and gas production projects in West Papua, and considers the social and environmental consequences for Indigenous communities.

Key findings include:

• British shareholders, including HSBC, Prudential, Legal & General and abrdn, are backing palm oil companies driving the world’s largest ongoing deforestation project in Merauke.

• UK financial institutions, such as Barclays and Rathbones, hold shares in Freeport-McMoRan, which operates Grasberg, the world’s largest gold mine and second-largest copper mine. The mine discharges 300,000 tons of untreated waste into local rivers every day.

• BP’s Tangguh LNG facility in West Papua has displaced local villages, damaged mangrove forests and is estimated to generate more than 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon emissions.

•  The British government has also supported Indonesia through arms exports and military training linked to security operations in the region.