A global call to halt deep-sea mining

Momentum is building against deep-sea mining, as governments, campaigners, and ocean advocates increasingly warn of irreversible harm to ecosystems that remain largely unexplored. At the latest International Seabed Authority (ISA) meeting, Croatia became the 38th nation to back a moratorium or precautionary pause. 

Pacific leaders were among the strongest voices. Palau’s President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. denounced seabed mining as “gambling with the future of Pacific Island children,” while a representative from the Solomon Islands described the lasting cultural, ecological, and spiritual trauma already inflicted by land-based extractive industries. They urged that this destructive cycle must not be repeated in the ocean that sustains their communities. 

France also reiterated its opposition, with envoy Olivier Poivre d’Arvor calling for a 10–15 year pause: “No deep-sea mining without science, without legitimacy, without equity.” 

Yet despite growing resistance, campaigners stressed that many governments are failing to match their ambitious promises at the recent U.N. Ocean Conference with action at the ISA. Sofia Tsenikli of DSCC warned that “governments must do what it takes to implement a moratorium before it’s too late.” 

Other advocates emphasized the wider stakes. Farah Obaidullah, founder of The Ocean and Us, argued that the ocean already faces multiple crises, from climate change to biodiversity loss, and cannot withstand the additional burden of deep-sea mining. Greenpeace and Seas at Risk echoed the need for governments to stand firm, warning that silence or delay would enable a desperate industry to force through weak regulations. 

The choice is becoming clearer: protect the deep sea as a vital part of our planet’s future—or allow short-term corporate profit to inflict irreversible damage on one of Earth’s last great wildernesses. Take the time to send a letter. Say No to Deep-Sea Mining. https://only.one/act/mining