The UK Government has today (30th Oct) announced that it will back a moratorium on deep sea mining

This is a win for the ocean, the Environment APPG and campaign groups like Environmental Justice Foundation, who have been pushing the PM to reject deep sea mining until the environmental impacts are better understood by scientists.

A moratorium safeguards the seabed from the unknown environmental impacts of mining, protecting marine life and vital carbon stores. It shows the government putting the precautionary principle into action, ensuring that we understand the impacts of mining before causing environmental harm. 

The UK now joins Spain, France, Chile, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland who have all called for a ban, moratorium or precautionary pause on deep sea mining.

In July, ahead of International Sea Bed Authority talks, APPG members wrote to Rishi Sunak calling for a moratorium, following a parliamentary roundtable where we had discussed the issue in detail with campaigners, scientists and legal experts. Many APPG supporters in the House of Lords also asked questions on deep sea mining in Parliament.