{"id":67519,"date":"2024-06-05T03:21:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T01:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=67519"},"modified":"2024-12-16T16:26:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T15:26:51","slug":"deep-down-under-how-deep-sea-mining-threatens-australia-and-the-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/67519\/deep-down-under-how-deep-sea-mining-threatens-australia-and-the-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep\u00a0Down Under: How deep sea mining threatens Australia and the Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the bottom of the globe sit the island nations of Australia and the 15 Pacific Island countries – internationally recognised and globally loved for their relaxed way of life, connection to crystal clear waters, and abundant marine life.<\/p>\n\n

The waters of the South Pacific hold the stories of tens of thousands of years of history and cultural heritage for First Nations<\/a> and Pasifika<\/a> people, who hold deep connections to the ocean. They are also home to what David Attenborough described as \u2018the most magical place in the entire planet\u2019 – the Great Barrier Reef, off the Australian coast. <\/p>\n\n

\"Aerial
Aerial view of the Great Barrier reef off the Whitsunday Islands.
\u00a9 Michael Amendolia \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

But without protection, these life-giving oceans are under threat. Australia has an important role to play in ocean protection, as we look down the barrel of our precious seascapes falling to destructive deep sea mining. <\/p>\n\n

Here are five things you should know about the South Pacific\u2019s fight to keep the deep sea mining-free.<\/p>\n\n

1. The oceans are central to our way of life<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Of the 26 million people who live in Australia, more than 22 million live within 50 kilometres of the coast. Our coastal areas are brimming with life.<\/p>\n\n

The oceans are culturally significant to Indigenous people in Australia and across the island communities of the Pacific, whose lives and identities are intrinsically connected with the ocean and the life it supports. If deep sea mining goes ahead, Pacific leaders worry fish stocks could be irreversibly damaged<\/a>, impacting a vital food source for millions of people.<\/p>\n\n

\"Humpback
Aerial shot of humpback whales migrating along the Ningaloo Coastline in Western Australia, taken from a helicopter.
\u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Tiffany Klein<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

2. Offshore mining has already been banned in two Australian jurisdictions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Two jurisdictions have introduced undersea mining bans off their coasts. In 2021, the Northern Territory government permanently banned seabed mining<\/a> across the Territory, after a three-year moratorium in its coastal waters. Last year, the New South Wales government banned offshore oil and gas exploration and mining<\/a> off their coast after ocean-lovers came together in a huge show of people-power to stop this polluting industry.<\/p>\n\n

3. The Metals Company is headed by Australian Businessman, Gerard Barron<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

The dominant player pushing for a deep sea mining licence in the Pacific Ocean is The Metals Company (TMC), the target of Greenpeace International\u2019s recent 200-hour at-sea protest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

TMC\u2019s CEO is Australian businessman Gerard Barron. He\u2019s reportedly in a bit of legal hot water in the UK<\/a> as the director of the company Winward, which entered administration in 2018 and appeared to pour millions of dollars into Barron\u2019s other ventures. Meanwhile, TMC also faces multiple legal challenges over accusations of financial mismanagement, including misleading investors<\/a> and other investigations<\/a>. Sounds like the perfect character to mine the ocean for profit, right?<\/p>\n\n

4. Australia\u2019s former Prime Minister has murky mining and weapons links<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Australia’s infamous former Prime Minister Scott Morrison (the guy who flaunted a lump of coal in parliament, went on a tropical holiday while Australia was on fire and appointed himself secret ministries), alongside the U.S former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have been revealed to be pushing deep sea mining for the international weapons trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Morrison was ousted as Australia\u2019s prime minister of the conservative Liberal party in 2022. He has since moved to the Seafloor Minerals Fund – a venture Greenpeace Australia Pacific  has described<\/a> as a \u201cfront for war-hungry investors who want to supercharge the weapons industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

5. Australia\u2019s government has not (yet) supported a moratorium<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Despite being under increasing local pressure<\/a>, Australia\u2019s new Labor government and its prime minister Anthony Albanese are yet to sign a moratorium on deep sea mining. Across the world, 25 countries including Australia\u2019s neighbours of New Zealand, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Papua New Guinea, support a global moratorium.<\/p>\n\n

\"Greenpeace
Greenpeace Australia Pacific holds ocean-themed rally on the iconic Bondi Beach, calling on Prime Minister Albanese to join the growing chorus of nations supporting a ban on deep sea mining.
\u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Australia must support a global moratorium. As an island nation, it has a lot to lose without one. Add your voice<\/strong><\/a> – tell the Australian government to stop deep sea mining.<\/p>\n\n

Kimberley Bernard is a Communications Specialist<\/em> at Greenpeace Australia Pacific <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia has an important role to play in ocean protection, as we look down the barrel of our precious seascapes falling to destructive deep sea mining.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":67521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"Stop Deep Sea Mining","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69,70,73],"tags":[85],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-67519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-nature","category-social-and-economic-systems","tag-oceans","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67519"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67557,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67519\/revisions\/67557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67519"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=67519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}