Deep Sea Mining
Greenpeace is working to prevent a new destructive extractive industry from ever getting started in the oceans. Our position: no deep sea mining, ever. To achieve that, we are joining Pacific communities, champion nations, and dozens of allied organizations across the globe in calling for a UN moratorium on deep sea mining.
In a planetary emergency, why would governments open up a new frontier for mining in the ocean — and who is pushing them to do so? Greenpeace is working to prevent a new destructive, extractive industry from ever getting started in the oceans.
What is Deep Sea Mining?
Deep sea mining is a new, highly-destructive extractive industry that is on the cusp of launching into our global oceans. Mining companies like GSR Deme and Deep Green are seeking to launch disruptive and untested methods on the planet’s deep seabeds to extract minerals such as nickel and cobalt, pitching it as a necessary solution for the world’s clean energy transition. We now face a once in a generation opportunity to stop an industry from gaining a foothold and ravaging one of our last biodiverse boundaries: the precious ecosystems of the ocean’s floor. We can defend this boundary by boldly asking government policy makers and forward-thinking clean transportation and tech companies to take a stand. We know more about the surface of Mars and the moon than about the deep ocean. From underwater mountains providing oases for sea creatures to towering spires resembling sunken cities, the deep ocean is full of mysteries. As the largest habitable space on Earth, the deep ocean is home to ancient coral reefs sustaining the oldest known lifeforms, trenches deep enough to hold Mount Everest, and mysterious animals that can live for hundreds of years. Scientists discover new species on practically every voyage down to the depths. This unique, living world is under threat from the nascent deep sea mining industry. Deep sea mining risks inevitable, severe, and irreversible environmental damage to our oceans and marine life. Right now, we are at a crucial moment in history. Governments and corporations have been granted licences to explore for deep sea mining in ecologically sensitive waters, and the industry is positioning its development as essential and inevitable. Although test mining is underway, commercial mining is not yet allowed by international law. But our window to stop a new highly destructive industry before it starts is closing fast. In July 2021, the country of Nauru announced intentions to begin deep sea mining. The announcement triggered an obscure “2 year rule” in international law, meaning that by July 2023 mining may commence, with whatever rules and safeguards are in place — or the lack of them. If mining begins, industrial-scale mining machines will enter our oceans and destroy unique underwater worlds – affecting not just the weird and wonderful creatures living in the depths, but putting the ocean creatures swimming across our global oceans at risk. By impacting on natural processes that store carbon, deep sea mining could even make climate change worse. Greenpeace is working on multiple fronts to stop deep sea mining before it ever starts: Greenpeace is engaging the potential end users of deep sea mining, the automakers, battery companies, and tech corporations that utilize so-called “energy minerals”, which are the primary target of deep sea miners. By gaining commitments to never use deep sea minerals, we aspire to cut off demand for ocean destruction before there ever is a supply. Our transition to a fossil fuel free future must be ethical and sustainable, and not come at the expense of destroying our planetary boundaries. To achieve this, commercial deep sea mining must never begin. Communities across the Pacific are on the frontline of deep sea mining. They have the most to lose from operations gone wrong, from damages to abundant fisheries to sedimentation of the beautiful coral reefs that are central to Pacific culture and sustenance, and climate change impacts that could eventually drive these communities from their ancestral homes. Greenpeace global network is working with long-standing Pacific activists who don’t want to see deep sea mining off their shores. These are the frontline heroes in this battle, and our role in the Pacific is to support them. Through the Protect the Oceans campaign, Greenpeace is working with nations across the globe to forge a new Global Ocean Treaty that would provide a legal framework for biodiversity protections in nearly half of the planet covered by international waters. Our goal is to achieve a network of fully protected ocean sanctuaries that will cover at least 30% of the ocean by 2030. Due to the political power of deep sea mining interests, there is no guarantee this Treaty will be granted the authority to put in place protections against this emerging destructive industry, but Greenpeace and our allies are working tirelessly to see that it does. While no commercial projects are yet permitted in the global ocean, exploratory deep sea mining is licensed by the United Nations through the International Seabed Authority. These operations are destructive and may have irreversible consequences that even deep sea mining companies admit are wholly unknown due to the lack of sufficient science. Greenpeace is meeting these miners at sea, at port, and in the conference rooms of global politics. We are bearing witness to their destructive activities, and "members of our global network have taken action to prevent their assaults upon the sea. We have a unique chance to stop this new threat in its tracks—and we need your help. We must call on our governments to create a strong treaty that can open the door to a global network of ocean sanctuaries, and set high standards to protect the global oceans from destructive industries.Can we stop Deep Sea Mining?
How Can we Stop Deep Sea Mining?
Corporate Engagement
Pacific Communities
Global Ocean Treaty
Bearing witness against deep sea miners
What’s our end goal?
