Civil society strongly urges Jamaican Government to join the call for a moratorium on deep sea mining

This morning (Monday, July 10) delegates began arriving at the headquarters of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), in downtown Kingston, Jamaica. The ISA’s Council will meet from July 10 -21 and the Assembly will meet from July 24- 28. This is a critical time for the future of our ocean, which has been described as the last unexplored wilderness on the Planet.

As the iconic marine biologist and ocean advocate Sylvia Earle said recently: “No ocean, no us.” She is one of many scientists and academics expressing considerable alarm at what one group of British professors has called “deep sea devastation.” But it’s all about the money to be made. Why listen to scientists? What do they know?

Apparently, the red carpet has been rolled out for Mr. Gerard “The future is metallic” Barron, CEO of The Metals Company, a Vancouver-based entity that is especially keen on mining the sea floor. Our Government seems to think that because the ISA headquarters happens to be here, it is obliged to go along with any and all decisions that are made. (Does the United States/New York City agree and sign off on every decision at the UN headquarters, one wonders? No, I thought not). Today, the Jamaica Conference Centre is adorned with huge posters put up by mining companies, and the countries that support them.

But this is how we do things in Jamaica. We take what we think is the easiest route. It’s called “expediency” or “practicality.” And in any case, our Government is already on board with deep sea mining, with its very own sponsored company, Blue Minerals Jamaica, ready and waiting to go out there and “explore.”

We know that media access has already been limited. Moreover, as JET points out below, JET has been denied access to the contract with Blue Minerals, the GOJ-sponsored company. As per usual in such matters, transparency is not the name of the game.

But all is not doom and gloom, as the number of countries calling for a pause before rushing ahead with deep sea mining is growing. “Big up yourselves,” Canada and Ireland, for calling for a pause. They join fifteen other countries that have expressed concerns, at the very least, at the enormous rush to push through to a start on deep sea mining – as early as this year.

Of course, not all countries are opposed outright to DSM. The ISA has already issued 31 exploration contracts to companies wanting to research the deep ocean, and these have been sponsored by 14 countries including China, Russia, India, the UK, France and Japan. Note: the French Parliament recently voted for an outright ban on DSM.

So, a comparatively small but vocal group of Jamaican environmental and civil society activists and organisations, is taking a resolute stand. Here is what they have to say. Please stay tuned; there is much more to follow.

Before I finish, here are two things you can do, as an individual: add your name to the 770,000 or so concerned citizens who have already signed the petition here. Secondly, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition has a link you can click on, and very quickly and easily send a tweet or email to the politician in your country who is responsible in this area, asking him/her to call for a pause on deep sea mining. In the case of Jamaica, this would be Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.

Civil society groups strongly urge GOJ to join in the call for a moratorium on DSM

We, the undersigned civil society groups and individuals, are making another urgent request to the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) to join in the call for a moratorium on Deep Sea Mining (DSM), currently being supported by 17 countries. This month, historical decisions about this new, risky and highly speculative extractive industry will be made at the International Seabed Authority’s (ISA’s) head-office in Kingston, Jamaica. These discussions have been taking place since 2021 when the ‘two-year rule’ was triggered by the country of Nauru – which means if there is a failure to adopt regulations by July 9, then the default position will be for mining to begin as early as this year. This deadline has passed on and no rules have been agreed to govern deep sea mining.

As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Jamaica has obligations to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment. Instead of supporting the call for a moratorium or a precautionary pause, however, the GOJ has opted to support DSM by becoming a sponsoring state and signing a 15-year contract in 2021 with Blue Minerals Jamaica (BMJ). Despite this, they now insist that they will not support DSM without a suitable regulatory framework being in place.

Dr. Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), said, “ The GOJ’s position does not go far enough and is contradictory. Firstly, how is a suitable regulatory framework to be developed in the absence of robust data? Who will monitor and enforce such regulations? Will we simply rely on mining companies to self-regulate, with the associated harmful impacts we have seen on land? Secondly, we have been denied access to the contract with BMJ, so we do not know the level of liability that Jamaican taxpayers are being burdened with.”

The JET CEO went on, “We believe that the GOJ’s continued support for DSM demonstrates a clear preference for economic gain over environmental protection and a disregard for the threat posed by the climate crisis”.

The deep sea is 200 meters to 11 kilometres beneath the ocean surface and is the largest ecosystem on the planet, comprising over 90% of the marine environment. It supports some of the planet’s most stable and unique ecosystems which may be as diverse as the world’s richest tropical rainforests. It plays a critical role in regulating climate by absorbing the greenhouse gases and heat produced by human activity and is already under stress from pollutants, microplastics and climate related impacts.

The deep sea also contains deposits of copper, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, manganese, zinc, among others minerals, in high concentrations.

Ms. Robyn Young, Youth Leader – Jamaica and Projects & Administrative Coordinator, from Sustainable Ocean Alliance Caribbean said, “While the deep sea is the planet’s largest ecosystem, very little is known about it. DSM will have significant widescale impacts, creating sediment plumes that can travel for several kilometres, impacting fisheries, coral reefs and other organisms. Mining will also likely impact the ocean’s ability to act as a carbon sink, accelerating global warming”.

Ms. Dahvia Hylton, climate change youth advocate said, “ Deep-sea mining has no part in a sustainable future for people and planet. Since Jamaica is the host country for ISA, special responsibility rests on the GOJ to protect the common heritage of mankind”.

We believe a moratorium is crucial and achievable. We therefore, once again, urge the Jamaican Government to join in the call for a moratorium to prevent what some have called the largest gold rush in history. Deep Sea Mining is simply not worth the risk.