Contact: Jessica Battle
Despite uncertainties and risks to the health of our ocean and to those who depend upon it for food and jobs, there is increasing pressure from a few companies to begin mining the international deep seabed. With much of the deep sea yet to be explored and understood, this would be recklessly short-sighted.
Now, four leading companies have announced their support for a global moratorium on deep seabed mining. BMW Group, Samsung SDI, Google and Volvo Group join the increasing chorus of concern about the significant risks to economies and to ocean health that would arise from opening up the deep seabed to the extraction of minerals.
Calls for a global moratorium on deep seabed mining are coming from diverse actors, including scientists, communities, the fishing industry, political leaders, NGOs including WWF, and now also from companies.
WWF and others calling for a moratorium welcome this important step, and call on other companies who care about the ocean to join by signing on to the statement. It is a clear message to those who are swayed by the false promise that deep seabed mining is a ‘green’ and attractive investment proposition.
Mining in water thousands of meters deep is expected to have destructive effects on vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems and lead to loss of biodiversity and species extinction. WWF’s recent report, In Too Deep, shows that the projected large-scale destruction of the seabed could affect global fisheries and threaten carbon and nutrient cycles in the ocean. Given the slow pace of deep-sea processes, destroyed habitats are unlikely to recover within human timescales. What has been created over millions of years would be wiped out in a day.
Marine ecosystems are connected, and many species are migratory. Therefore, deep seabed mining cannot occur in isolation, and disturbances can easily cross jurisdictional boundaries. Negative effects on global fisheries would threaten the main protein source of around one billion people and the livelihoods of around 200 million people, many in poor coastal communities.
WWF and others calling for the moratorium are asking that all deep seabed mining activities be put on hold until the environmental, social and economic risks are comprehensively understood; all alternatives to adding more minerals into the resource economy are exhausted; and it is clearly demonstrated that deep seabed mining can be managed in a way that ensures the effective protection of the marine environment and prevents loss of biodiversity.
Fiji has already established a national moratorium for ten years, and Vanuatu and Papua New Guinean leaders have called for a moratorium in their own waters. In international waters, a moratorium must be agreed at the UN level, including by the countries around the Baltic. Exploratory plans exist to dig up minerals from the seafloor in the Gulf of Bothnia, so a moratorium might be pertinent also for the Baltic Sea.
WWF urges companies, governments and investors to focus their attention on smart, resource-efficient and circular economy solutions, as well as ensuring responsible mining practices on land, that reduce environmental and social impacts.
This article is part of the WWF Baltic Newsletter – May 2021
