IUCN WORLD CONSERVATION CONGRESS SHINES LIGHT ON THREAT OF DEEP-SEA MINING

IUCN World Conservation Congress shines light on threat of deep-sea mining. This week, government and civil society come together to commit to action on critical environmental issues at the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress (WCC) the first hybrid in-person and virtual environmental large-scale event since the COVID-19 pandemic began.  Running from 3-11 September in Marseilles, IUCN members vote on motions put forward to drive action on conservation and sustainable development.

One such motion being tabled at this year’s congress is Motion 069- protection of deep-ocean ecosystems and biodiversity through a moratorium on seabed mining- co-sponsored by Fauna & Flora International [UK], Fundación MarViva  [Costa Rica], Natural Resources Defense Council [USA], Sylvia Earle Alliance/Mission Blue  [USA], Synchronicity Earth [UK], Wildlands Conservation Trust [South Africa], World Wide  Fund for Nature – International.

Deep-sea mining has gained considerable media attention this year as the multiple risks surrounding the emerging industry hit the headlines and global calls for a pause have continued to grow across a broad spectrum of society:

• Nearly 600 scientists and policy-makers have warned that biodiversity loss would be unavoidable if deep-sea mining were to go ahead, urging caution around the uncertain impacts of this nascent industry carbon sequestration dynamics and storage.
• Business and financial institutions are pre-divesting from the industry and supporting calls to stop the new frontier of industrial extraction in its tracks.
  • BMW, Google, Samsung, and Volvo have all committed to keeping the deep sea out of their products earlier this year.
  • ABN AMRO, BBVA, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, and Standard Chartered Bank have all added deep-sea mining to their investment exclusion criteria.
• Calls for a halt to the industry have also grown across civil society.
  • The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, an alliance of around 100 international organizations have called for a moratorium.
  • In the Pacific, the Pacific Blue Line collective have called for a ban on deep-sea mining, which has now been endorsed by over 100 organisations.

As government and civil society leaders vote on Motion 069, elsewhere this week, the prospective deep-sea mining company, DeepGreen Metals, is hoping Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp (SOAC) shareholders will approve the business combination with it, at today’s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).  If the proposed merger is approved, DeepGreen would go public as The Metals Company (TMC).

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and its members, including Fauna & Flora international will be taking WCC delegates on a dive into the deep throughout this year’s congress, shining a light on the deep and why it is so critical to all life on earth and why we need to safeguard its health from the threat of deep-sea mining.