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Deep-sea mining: Dumbo says “It’s not worth the risk”

By Rosie Chambers, Campaign Manager for The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition‘s Deep-sea Mining Moratorium campaign.

Although most of us will never have the chance to visit the deep sea, in a healthy state it helps make all life on Earth possible. It provides a vast range of services, and in many ways is the planet’s life support system.

Making up 90% of our ocean, the deep sea (everything below 200 m) is the largest living space on Earth. It provides oxygen, stores carbon, supports fisheries and offers immeasurable spiritual and cultural significance for people around the world. It is also home to amazing, highly vulnerable species. The majority of these are yet to be discovered and may hold the key to our future: recently the test to diagnose COVID-19 was developed using an enzyme found in a hydrothermal vent.

But is there deep trouble ahead?

Caption: A long-nosed chimaera, Hariotta raleighana, spotted during an expedition to investigate the diversity and distribution of deep-sea habitats and associated marine life in the Gulf of Mexico basin. This was the first time many on board had seen one!.

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), made up of over 80 organizations worldwide, aims to safeguard the long-term health of the deep ocean. To address one of the severest threats it faces, we are calling for a global moratorium on an emerging new industry – deep-sea mining.

Speculators propose to strip-mine and vacuum up valuable mineral deposits from the deep sea for profit. This includes polymetallic nodules (themselves mini ecosystems!) and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, primarily for the tech industry including battery storage. Prospective miners claim that deep-sea minerals are essential for a decarbonised future, yet their assumptions are rooted in an extractivist approach inconsistent with the need to transition to an alternative economic model. Recycling potential is, for example, largely untapped while rapid developments in new battery technology make it challenging to accurately predict future metals demand and offer a vision of the future where no new mines are needed.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is the intergovernmental body tasked with regulating and controlling all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond national jurisdiction, responsible for ensuring the effective protection of the common heritage of humankind from the harmful effects of mining activities. However, as of June 2020, the ISA has already issued exploration licenses for 1.3 million km² of the deep seabed. If these were converted to exploitation licenses, it would create the largest set of mining operations ever undertaken, causing widespread, irreversible harm.

Scientists say that the damage from deep-sea mining could include permanent ecosystem destruction, the disruption of critical oceanic processes, impacts on commercial fisheries already under pressure, and ‘real extinction risks’ for deep-sea organisms. Surely none of these scenarios is worth the risk?

Our #DeepTrouble campaign at the DSCC highlights these looming threats and aims to broaden public support for protecting the deep sea. It includes a tailor-made online game to engage new audiences, pitting you, a shamelessly adorable Dumbo octopus, against an onslaught of mining gear. The set-up of the game is a nod to the epic arcade game Space Invaders, only after players have helped Dumbo defend her home from deep-sea mining invaders, they can take real-world action by emailing their government and calling for a moratorium (‘precautionary pause’) on the adoption of regulations and the issuing of any exploitation contracts for deep-sea mining (although activities such as marine scientific research, education and institutional reform of the ISA would all be permitted to continue).

Caption: Manganese nodules targeted by the deep-sea mining industry are typically golf ball to tennis ball sized and take tens of millions of years to form. Image courtesy of the DeepCCZ expedition.

Why a moratorium? Because at the moment we do not have sufficient understanding of the biology and ecology of the deep sea. To make informed decisions on if, how and where to mine, we need to know more about the value of the ecological services provided by this unique environment. Neither have we had enough time to understand the impacts of the mineral extraction, the resulting sediment plumes in the water column, nor the permanent ecosystem destruction and loss predicted. Scientists say we must protect nature if we are to avert the next pandemic. Opening a new frontier of exploitation does the opposite.

Governments around the world have an obligation to honour their commitments to safeguard ocean health. We have a shared, collective responsibility to ‘sustainable development’, which means leaving the world (which is 70% ocean) in good condition for future generations. All countries have signed up to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with numerous other relevant conventions and agreements. SDG 14 in particular requires us to ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.’ Giving the green light to deep-sea mining negates these agreements.

Caption: The HCMR Thetis, a human occupied submersible used to explore the depths of the deep sea. Shown here being used as part of the PHAEDRA project. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-sea Exploration.

Global momentum for a moratorium on deep-sea mining continues to build with the support of the European Commission, a growing number of scientists, civil society groups, young ocean leaders and well known public figures such as David Attenborough amongst others. Most recently, the Minister of the Sea for Portugal, Ricardo Serrão Santos, also publicly stated in the Portuguese Parliament that he supports a moratorium on deep seabed mining, while the Prime Ministers of Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea have similarly called for a moratorium in national waters.

To protect the ocean and the life-support functions it performs for our planet and humankind, we must all take urgent action in its defense, stand with the science, and call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. We don’t need this dangerous new industry; we don’t want it and it isn’t worth the risk.

Will you take action today by emailing your president or prime minister and asking them to defend the deep sea?

Find out more on the DSCC’s website and take a look at our new fact sheets on deep-sea mining.

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Rosie Chambers the Campaign Manager for The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition’s Deep-sea Mining Moratorium campaign. The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) is a coalition made up of over 80 non-government organizations, fishers organizations and law and policy institutes worldwide. These organisations work together under the DSCC umbrella to safeguard the long-term health of the deep sea by reducing the greatest threats it faces.

 

 

This post is part of Ocean Unite’s blog series. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Ocean Unite. 

Safiya Sawney is currently the Caribbean Policy Lead for Ocean Unite. Most recently she was the Ocean and Climate Policy Advisor to the Mission of the Republic of Palau to the United Nations representing the President of Palau at the High-Level Panel for the Sustainable Ocean Economy and leading Palau’s engagement at the UN Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit. Safiya was also the project coordinator for the UN Office of Project Services providing strategic support towards the 2020 Our Oceans Conference.

Formerly, Safiya was the lead policy advisor on a Blue Economy partnership platform between the Governments of the Netherlands and Grenada with support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Safiya has fostered many innovative partnerships to spur action on ocean plastics and environmental awareness for small islands states including partnerships with Parley for the Ocean and Adidas, PangeaSeed, UN Environment, United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and others.

Safiya has provided policy support to Climate Analytics Inc. on Caribbean climate strategies, was the deputy coordinator for the Caribbean team that executed the 2013 Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) Summit in collaboration with Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Unite and The Nature Conservancy and served as technical advisor to Alliance of Small Island Developing States at the UN.

Jon Bassford, CAE, JD, MBA is an association and nonprofit operations professional. Jon has worked for c3 to c7 organizations across many different roles and responsibilities but has carved out an expertise as an efficient and effective operations professional. Through his consulting firm Lateral Solutions, Jon leads several organizations as a part-time operations director as well as client work in college student/campus outreach, organizational development, innovation, and strategy. Jon has truly carved out an expertise helping organizations launch and run internal operations in an efficient and effective manner using digital tools.
 
Across his membership and operational roles, Jon has 15 years of experience leading organizations.

Renee brings nearly a decade of internal operations experience to the Ocean Unite team. Prior to joining the team, Renee worked for eight years at The Pew Charitable Trusts where she began as an administrative assistant supporting their Shark, Tuna, and Whale conservation campaigns as well as the Senior Director of International Ocean Conservation. Particularly adept at identifying operational issues and developing methods to solve them, Renee moved into an operations role working across Pew’s international Ocean conservation projects, then all their environment conservation projects, and later the breadth of Pew’s programmatic work. She has degrees from California State University, San Bernardino, and Temple University in Philadelphia, and recently relocated from Washington, DC, to the California coast. As hard as this team works to protect our magnificent Ocean, Renee is the only person on the team who lives at the beach and relishes in enjoying the beauty of the Ocean every day.

Brittney is Ocean Unite’s digital and social media manager and is a consultant for Communications Inc. Comms Inc. is an agency which works with the not-for-profit sector, with a particular specialism in the ocean and wider environment. They are well known within the international ocean community and enjoy the trust of, and a working relationship with, most of the large international environmental NGOs and coalitions. Recognised for their ability to deliver fast, cost-effective and productive communications and campaigning, they are particularly valued for their strategic contribution based on a sound understanding of the issues, the political landscape within which the issues exist and a creative approach to bringing about change. (www.communicationsinc.co.uk)

One of the principals of Communications Inc., Sophie has nearly 20 years of experience in strategic communications. Comms Inc., is an agency which works with the not for profit sector, with a particular specialism in the ocean and wider environment. They are well known within the international ocean community and enjoy the trust of, and a working relationship with, most of the large international environmental NGOs and coalitions. Recognised for their ability to deliver fast, cost-effective and productive communications and campaigning, they are particularly valued for their strategic contribution based on a sound understanding of the issues, the political landscape within which the issues exist and a creative approach to bringing about change (www.communicationsinc.co.uk).

Nathalie has almost two decades of experience working in environmental advocacy. She worked for over 15 years for Greenpeace International, focusing mainly on biodiversity issues. For many years she worked as Senior Oceans Political Advisor focusing on international ocean governance and marine conservation. More recently she was the deputy director of the Political and Business Unit. She has wide experience of attending and leading delegations at international environmental meetings, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, and ocean-related negotiations at the UN General Assembly. When asked why she feels strongly about protecting the ocean, she says that not only is it home to the weirdest and most wonderful creatures on the planet, tomorrow’s life-saving drugs could be found at the bottom of the sea, not to mention the discovery of an anti-wrinkle cream that actually works!

Karen has over 25 years of experience working for international non-governmental organisations on environmental issues around the world with a particular focus on protecting marine biodiversity and building resilience to climate change. In 2015, Sack established Ocean Unite, co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and former Costa Rican President José María Figueres, to engage leadership voices and the business community to accelerate ocean health and resilience. Ocean Unite is committed to helping secure the strong protection of 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030. It has also developed a groundbreaking partnership with the insurance sector to address ocean risk.

She was senior director for international oceans at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she developed their international oceans program including their ending illegal fishing strategy and initiated and was the managing partner of the Global Ocean Commission. Before that she was head of Greenpeace International’s political and business unit and head of their international oceans programme. In 2004, she was the first person from a non-governmental organization to speak at a regular session of the United Nations General Assembly, where she represented the concerns of over 60 environmental organizations from around the world over the plight of our oceans. Karen is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network. She has master’s degrees in international environmental law and in international political economy.