The Pacific Blue Line collective welcomes the call by France for a ban on deep sea mining, a call that Pacific civil society groups and movements have been pushing for since 2012.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced today at COP27 that he supports a ban on deep sea mining (DSM), a firm stance against deep sea mining after he called for caution at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon in June this year.
The ban stance by France now follows calls by Germany for a precautionary pause on the advancement of DSM, together with New Zealand’s recent announcement on a conditional moratorium on DSM in international waters. These calls come timely in absence of internationally agreed rules and regulations for exploitation.
Pacific civil society groups and churches who have been rallying for a global ban on DSM since 2012, say the recent announcements and policy positions ranging from a pause, stop, recess, moratorium, and ban on DSM by state parties to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), must be taken seriously.