MEDIA REACTION
The new scientific report from Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) member Fauna & Flora International (FFI) sets out evidence that the risk posed by deep-sea mining to biodiversity and vital ocean services is too great to take.
As a result of the report, Sir David Attenborough has called for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
Continue reading SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH CALLS FOR A MORATORIUM ON DEEP-SEA MINING
Source: National Science Foundation
The essential roles microbes play in deep-sea ecosystems are at risk from the potential environmental impacts of mining, a new paper in Limnology and Oceanography reports. The NSF-funded study reviews what is known about microbes in these environments and assesses how mining could impact their important roles.
Continue reading Study weighs deep-sea mining’s impact on microbes
Source: The Guardian
Author: Robin McKie
New research warns that ‘blue acceleration’ – a global goldrush to claim the ocean floor – is already impacting on the environment.
Continue reading Race to exploit the world’s seabed set to wreak havoc on marine life
Source: MIT News
Author: Mary Beth Gallagher
Resting atop Thomas Peacock’s desk is an ordinary-looking brown rock. Roughly the size of a potato, it has been at the center of decades of debate.
Continue reading Understanding the impact of deep-sea mining
Source: The Guardian
Author: Fiona Harvey
Halting overfishing and the plastic pollution of the oceans could help tackle the climate emergency by improving the degraded state of the world’s biggest carbon sink, a report has found.
Continue reading Tackling degraded oceans could mitigate climate crisis
Source: Chinadialogue Ocean
o mine the seabed under international waters, companies like DeepGreen need a licence from the UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA). So far, only exploration licences have been granted. The ISA has put a hold on the actual extraction of minerals until they’ve completed their Mining Code: an unprecedented set of regulations to control what happens on the international seabed in an effort to ensure mining benefits everyone. This code has been in the works for nearly two decades. But with time now running out on its exploration licences, the ISA is facing increasing pressure to push the code through and let mining begin. Is the world ready for this? And, given the powerful influence of mining interests and the inability of civil society to oversee what’s happening at the ISA, is this UN body really up to the task of protecting our ocean floors?
Continue reading here.
Source: Watershed Sentinel
Author: Gavin McRae
Since the influential book Mineral Resources of the Sea by J. L. Mero was published a half-century ago, governments and mining companies have dreamed of extracting untapped metal and mineral deposits from the sea floor.
Source: Deep Sea Mining Campaign
On 21st November, Nautilus Mineral’s court-appointed monitors, Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) confirmed that the relevant legal papers had been filed to assign Nautilus Minerals Inc. into bankruptcy.[i] Whilst this news was expected, there has been no news on their plans for the Solwara 1 deep sea mining project in Papua New Guinea, leaving local communities and civil society who are opposed to the project with many questions.
Nautilus filed for protection from its debts in a Canadian Court in February 2019.[ii] The company tried to restructure but it failed to find any buyers for its assets. In August 2019, court approval was obtained for creditors to liquidate the company in order to get back a fraction of what they were owed.[iii]
Continue reading here.
Source: Science
Author: Warren Cornwall
The coastal waters of the United States cover an area dwarfing the nation itself. Yet more than half of that ocean floor is a blank—unmapped by all but low-resolution satellite imagery.
Now, the White House has announced a new push to examine these 11.6 million square kilometers of undersea territory. President Donald Trump this week signed a memorandum ordering federal officials to draft a new strategy that would accelerate federal efforts to map and explore these reaches.
Continue reading here.
Source: Chinadialogue Ocean
Episode three of Mining the Deep by Sustainable Asia dissects the persuasive arguments for and against raking metallic rocks off the international seabed
Continue reading here.
