Nongovernment organisations (NGOs) and scientists are calling on the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to halt issuing further exploration licences and to establish a moratorium on deep-sea mining, NGO Deep Sea Mining Campaign coordinator Dr Helen Rosenbaum says.

“We, along with over 650 000 people internationally, call on the ISA and nation States to agree to a moratorium on seabed mining unless and until it is proven safe and there is broad civil society consent for this unprecedented industry,” she says.

She adds that the ISA, an intergovernmental body based in Kingston, Jamaica, was established to organise, regulate and control all mineral- related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

With over 1.5-million square kilometres of ocean floor already under exploration leasehold in the Pacific Ocean alone, the ISA has approved 27 exploration licences for deep-sea mining.

“It is disappointing that so many exploration licences have been issued without any understanding of the environmental impacts of exploration, let alone exploitation,” says Rosenbaum.

She points out that it also facilitates the development of an industry that does not have the consent of potentially affected communities and wider civil society.

“As the global steward of the world’s oceans, it is incumbent upon the ISA to protect the world’s already stressed marine ecosystems. “The deep sea is one of the world’s last ecosystems to have largely escaped devastating impacts of mining, and, as an ecosystem that affects all life on earth, it must be protected.”

She adds that, currently, the ISA and sponsoring governments receive scientific advice and input primarily from companies with vested interests in a particular policy or regulatory result.

The ISA’s decision-making processes must be open to the participation of civil society and independent scientists.

“Governments and the ISA should take note that the Center for Biological Diversity is suing the US government over the granting of exploration permits for the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the absence of environmental-impact studies,” Rosenbaum says.

She adds that there is insufficient scientific data about the impacts of deep-sea mining, no regulatory frameworks in place to govern mining operations and the capacity to enforce such frameworks does not yet exist.

“This landmark legal case will set a precedent for application of the precautionary principle,” she concludes.