By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The world congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has called a motion for a ban on deep-sea mining.
The motion has been adopted in Marseille, France at the world’s biggest biodiversity summit since the pandemic, after an overwhelmingly supportive vote by governments and civil society groups.
The congress recognised scientists’ concerns that biodiversity loss will be inevitable, is likely to be permanent and the consequences for the ocean’s ecosystem unknown if deep-sea mining is permitted.
Conservationists say the motion sends a strong message to governments about the global opposition to the mining of the seabed at vast depths for valuable minerals and metals.
Matthew Gianni, the co-founder of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), said he was pleased with the overwhelming support for a ban from government, agencies and NGOs.
“Member countries of the International Seabed Authority, including France, which hosted this congress, need to wake up and act on behalf of civil society and the environment now and take action in support of a moratorium,” Gianni said.
Among governments and government agencies, 81 voted for the moratorium, 18 against and 28 abstained. For NGOs and civil society groups, the vote was even more in favour of motion 069, with 577 for, 32 against and 35 abstentions.
The German environment ministry, the government of Fiji and many other government agencies voted to support the motion, according to the DSCC. The UK was one of the countries that abstained from voting on the motion.
The motion calls on all state members to support a moratorium on deep-sea mining until rigorous and transparent impact assessments are carried out, the social, cultural and economic risks understood, and the protection of the marine environment ensured. It also called on states to promote the reform of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to ensure transparent and environmentally responsible decision-making and regulation.
About 167 countries plus the European Union are members of the ISA, a multi-agency authority established under the UN convention of the law of the sea. The body is debating whether to begin licensing commercial mining of the seabed in as little as two years’ time.
