Deep sea unregulated mining must not proceed, the leader of the United Nations (UN) has cautioned.
“The deep sea cannot become the Wild West,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said at the opening of the UN Oceans Conference in Nice, France.
His words were echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who declared the “oceans are not for sale”.
The comments would seem to be aimed at President Trump’s April announcement to start issuing permits to extract critical minerals in international oceans.
Global Alarm Over Deep Sea Mineral Extraction
Interest is building in harvesting valuable minerals from what are termed metallic “nodules” that lie naturally on the ocean floor. But ocean scientists worry about the damage that may be done.
“The ocean is not for sale. We’re talking about a common shared good,” President Macron said. “I think it’s madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it.”
The matter is one of a series on the French agenda, also such issues as over-fishing, pollution by plastics and global warming.
More than 2,000 of the planet’s scientists last week considered the most recent data on ocean condition – they advised governments gathering this week that deep sea exploration should be suspended while more investigation be conducted into the effects.
UN Chief Calls for Moratorium and Push for High Seas Treaty
Over 30 nations back this stance and are demanding a moratorium – yet President Trump has refused to backtrack on his executive order.
A major goal of the UN oceans conference, which lasts until Friday, is to encourage 60 nations to ratify a High Seas Treaty and thereby bring it into effect.
This was signed two years ago in an effort to place 30% of global waters into marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2030, with the expectation that it will conserve and assist ecosystems to recuperate.
President Macron said during his opening address that another 15 had ratified but that only raises the number up to 47.
UK’s Position and Concerns Over Bottom Trawling
The UK government has not yet ratified the agreement, although on Monday it announced a prohibition of a bottom “destructive” form of fishing that runs large nets across the seafloor may be extended to all MPAs in England.
Even if sufficient countries sign there are fears among environmentalists, such as Sir David Attenborough, that there is nothing specific in the Treaty to prohibit bottom trawling in these MPAs.
Bottom trawling is among the more harmful fishing methods that can cause incidentally killing larger sea species.
