The call comes ahead of the issue coming under debate at a UN conference in Jamaica.
Environmental groups on Wednesday urged a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of an international meeting in Jamaica where an obscure UN body will debate the issue, amid fears it could soon authorise the world’s first licence to harvest minerals from the ocean floor.
“Sea mining is one of the key environmental issues of our time, and this is because the deep sea is among the last pristine areas of our planet,” said Sofia Tsenikli, from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, a Netherlands-based alliance of environmental groups. Mining companies say that harvesting minerals from the deep sea instead of land is cheaper and has less of an environmental impact.
The International Seabed Authority, which is tasked with regulating deep international waters, has issued more than 30 exploration licences. China holds five, the most of any country, with a total of 22 countries issued such licences, said Emma Wilson with the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.
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