Anti Deep Sea Mining coalition makes urgent call for new members
Anti Deep Sea Mining coalition makes urgent call for governments to join the moratorium in the wake of Trump executive order.
A strident international coalition seeking to stop deep sea mining from ever happening has made an urgent call for new members.
The call comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump's shock executive order last Thursday, unilaterally opening up deep sea mining in search of critical minerals to counter China's dominance in the global mining and metals market.
The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) is asking global governments to at least consider joining the list of countries that already support a moratorium on mining the open sea bed.
Prior to Trump's announcement, 32 countries had signed up to the moratorium to either stop it altogether or wait until more scientific information is known about the would-be impact.
DSCC also successfully lobbied some of the world's biggest companies who use these minerals as raw material. Among others, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce have all signalled support for avoiding the minerals mined from the Ocean.
The coalition credits its lobbying and advocacy around the world with stopping deep sea mining regulations from being passed at the UN backed International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council in 2023.
ISA is responsible for both protecting the high seas outside of any country's jurisdiction, as well as regulating deep sea mining. It has been poring over draft regulations for years, whilst issuing 22 provisional deep sea mining contracts. However, to date, no commercial miner has been given the go ahead to deep sea mine.
The Metals Company, a Canadian mining company, which had been lobbying the Trump administration to bypass the regulator, had been strident in its criticism of DSCC, which it called a loud minority.
TMC accused the group of holding up progress, while global demand for the minerals grew.
Days before Trump's announcement, the coalition had published a 28-page report outlining what it describes as an alternative to Deep Sea Mining.
The report includes a chapter on The Economics of the Moratorium as it seeks to counter economic arguments in favour of deep sea mining.
Deep Blue League will be covering the report in detail in a deep dive this week.
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