Mining exploitation of the seabed, Greenpeace protests with the British government

The pursuit of profit and business is already leading the mining industry to take over maritime land on the high seas to be exploited for the extraction of metals and minerals. But the risks to the ecosystem are numerous. 

At the moment there are no such operations on the high seas, but the latest Greenpeace studies reveal that 29 exploration licenses have been issued covering an area five times larger than the United Kingdom. 

The licences, issued by a United Nations body, the International Seabed Authority, have been granted to a handful of countries that sponsor private companies on the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, totalling 500,000 sq miles. 

The industry has said deep-sea mining is essential to extract the materials needed for a transition to a green economy by supplying raw materials for key technologies including batteries, computers and phones. Besides being less harmful than that of the surface. 

On the other hand, activists say that the operations would have aggravated the climate emergency by interrupting the carbon deposits in the sediments of the seabed, reducing the ocean's ability to store it. 

The Greenpeace report said: «The deep-sea mining industry presents its development as essential for a low-carbon future, yet this claim is not substantiated by actors in the renewable energy, electric vehicle or battery sectors. Such arguments ignore calls for a move from the endless exploitation of resources to a transformational and circular economy». 

The report called on governments to agree on a strong global ocean treaty in the next 12 months, citing scientists, governments, environmentalists and representatives of the fishing industry, who warned of the threat posed by deep-sea mining to marine life. 

The environmentalist Chris Packham, said deep-sea mining posed a serious threat to global oceans. «We’ve already seen the huge destruction ravaged upon our planet by corporations mining on land – she said -, are we really prepared to give the go-ahead to the mining industry expanding into a new frontier, where it will be even harder for us to scrutinise the damage caused?» 

The group calls on the British government to show strong global leadership and a champion of ocean protection. 

A government spokesperson said: «The UK continues to press for the highest international environmental standards, including on deep sea mineral extraction. We have sponsored two exploration licences, which allows scientific marine research to fully understand the effects of deep sea mining and we will not issue a single exploitation licence without a full assessment of the environmental impact».