More countries in favor of a moratorium on underwater mining, according to experts

More and more countries call for a moratorium on the underwater mining and increase the protection of the ocean until the real impacts that the activity could cause on the seabed are not known, several experts have pointed out in a meeting prior to the start on Monday of the meeting of the International Seabed Authority in Jamaica.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) will meet from July 10 to 18 in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, to continue negotiating the approval of deep-sea mining or to listen to the petition of the countries that have called for a moratorium.

Chile, Costa Rica, France, Palau and Vanuatu have jointly submitted a proposal requesting the ISA to include in the meeting agenda a discussion on a general policy around a “possible recess” on deep sea mining, said the representative and founder of the organization Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Sian Owen.

More and more countries are joining this request for a moratorium on underwater mining, the last one has been Switzerland, and on that list were already Spain, Germany, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, New Zealand, Panama or Samoa, among others.

“Recess, moratorium or precautionary pause, all this language is basically aimed at stopping the fast race” towards deep sea mining “which was triggered in particular under the two-year gap” raised by Nauru, Owen has noted.

The island of Nauru in the Pacific proposed to the ISA the approval of underwater mining within a period of two years, -period in which the entity had to have ready a regulation for the activity-, supported by the mining company Nauru Offshore Resources Inc , a subsidiary of Canada’s The Metals Company.

However, the expert has stressed, “The ISA has been carrying out these negotiations for the last 10 years”so it is from “Vital importance” the position of the five countries that have requested the inclusion of the moratorium on the agenda of the meetings, which “officially opens the topic on the organization, as well as on the future direction of the entity”.

Some countries have been asking for a restructuring of the management of the ISA, which they accuse of being pressured by the economic interests of mining companies.

The head of the Global Project of Greenpeace’s Stop Deep-Sea Mining campaign, Louisa Casson, has stressed that they hope that “More countries join the request for a moratorium” to achieve the protection of the ocean, although he prefers to be prudent “Until we see joint action against deep-sea mining, until there is a common policy to protect the ocean.”

It is a historic opportunity, he pointed out, “because it is very clear” that to solve the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity “the last thing we need is underwater mining”remembering that the ocean is the “world’s largest carbon sink”.

He explained that the European Investment Bank (EIB) classifies deep-sea mining as “unacceptable in climatic and environmental terms” and many battery, automobile, technology, and electronics companies do not want to be associated with the deep-sea mining industry as part of their efforts to meet social commitments.

Bobbi-jo Dobush of The Ocean Foundation has pointed out that deep-sea mining “not a climate solution”If not the opposite, “It is a potential climate disaster, an amplifier of climate risks.”

WWF’s Kaja Lone Fjaertoft has presented the results of the report “The future is circular” and has pointed out that promoting the circular economy of waste or elements that are used in technology would allow a 58% reduction in mineral demand.

All the participants have also agreed on the damage that underwater mining would cause to local and indigenous communities that live from the ocean and fishing.

They have also stressed that there is still time to stop this extractivist industry “before it causes irreparable damage to our planet.”

Source: EFE