Today, the Environmental Justice Foundation welcomes the European Commission's confirmation of its position for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

On 17 September, a coalition of 16 NGOs warned the European Commission about references to the potential of deep-sea mining in Mario Draghi’s report on the Future of European Competitiveness. The report recommended the EU should “carefully explore the potential of environmentally-sustainable deep sea mining”, basing its conclusions on the potential of deep sea minerals for the green transition on an 11-year-old study. More recent studies have since highlighted that deep-sea mining is not needed to achieve the Paris Agreement goals.

In response to the letter, the European Commission reaffirmed its position that it will “advocate to prohibit deep-sea mining”, reiterating that “there is a broad consensus in the scientific community and among States that knowledge related to the deep-sea environment and the impacts of mining are not comprehensive enough to enable evidence-based decision-making to allow for proceeding safely with exploitation”. In addition, the European Commission recalled that under the Critical Raw Materials Act, recently adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, the Commission does “not recognise deep-sea mining projects as Strategic Projects”.

Steve Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, said: "The European Commission's position on deep-sea mining has always been clear, and this confirmation further settles the matter. It proves that the European Union is committed to prioritising the protection of the marine environment by rejecting deep-sea mining at least until the scientific gaps are fully addressed. We have plenty of evidence that we don't need to mine the ocean for our batteries. Let's keep up the momentum to make Europe a world leader in the circular economy, choosing true sustainability over destroying new ecosystems".

There is growing support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. Today, 32 countries, including 11 EU Member States, are calling for a moratorium, precautionary pause, or ban on the industry.

ENDS

Notes to editors

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