Seas At Risk released a statement welcoming the European Parliament’s resolution on international ocean governance and especially its stance on deep-sea mining, as it proposed an international moratorium.
This proposal highlights the importance of applying the precautionary principle to the emerging deep-sea mining sector. It calls on the Commission and EU Member States to support an international moratorium on commercial deep-sea mining exploitation licences until the effects of deep-sea mining have been studied and researched sufficiently and all possible risks are understood.
Furthermore, the resolution calls for the European Commission and Member States to withdraw support for deep-sea mining in international waters, including a refusal to issue permits for deep-sea mining on Member States’ continental shelves.
“Instead of further promoting the sector, like the EU is doing in its blue growth strategy, the European Parliament calls on the EU to invest in sustainable alternatives, specifically a transition to sustainable consumption and production, as outlined in SDG 12 under Agenda 2030,” Seas at Risk said.
This comes at a crucial time, with the International Seabed Authority concluding consultation on its draft exploitation regulation and pushing for its approval by 2020. At the same time, scientists are warning about the importat harm that mining can cause to the fragile deep sea environment.
“In light of this strong European Parliament position, Seas At Risk hopes that the European Commission and its Member States will reconsider their position on deep-sea mining. It is time for the EU to cease its promotion of deep-sea mining as a priority sector in its blue growth strategy and, instead of creating new avenues for unsustainable extraction of non-renewable resources, to move towards a 21st century model of sustainable consumption and production,” Seas at Risk concludes.
