By MEP Ms. Marie Toussaint (France)

Unoffical translation from original French

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The seas and oceans are spaces as precious as they are mysterious. As refuges of a unique biodiversity in the world and allies in our fight against climate change, we must absolutely protect them from destruction and exploitation.

Already today, all over the world, the ocean is pierced by oil and gas wells, which pose enormous risks to living organisms, and to the Arctic and Antarctic. But the race to exploit resources and to make more profits could well create a new industry at sea tomorrow...

This new threat is the emergence, supposedly in the name of ecological transition, of a mining industry on the seabed, to exploit the resources of nickel, cobalt and other minerals and metals.

Seabed mining would have devastating consequences for biodiversity, threatening the estimated 250,000 living underwater species, and the millions yet to be discovered. By turning over the sediments of the seabed, mining would also be catastrophic for the climate, releasing huge amounts of carbon, and preventing the ocean from playing its role as a climate change slowdown, at a time when we need it most...

States, first and foremost France, have already expressed their willingness to explore, and then further exploit, the mineral resources of the seabed. Just last week, the French Ministry of the Sea announced the launch of the first exploration missions. Of course, it is necessary to develop our scientific knowledge of the oceans. But let's not be fooled: behind exploration, which is extremely expensive, lies Emmanuel Macron's desire to develop a real deep-sea mining industry, and to take the lion's share in the race for minerals and rare metals.

To protect the rights of living beings, we must at all costs put an end to this destructive escalation before it is too late.

It is therefore our duty, as parliamentarians committed to the protection of the ocean and the climate, to engage and demand together a moratorium on seabed mining.

We can achieve this victory. In September 2021, a call for such a moratorium obtained the support of more than 80% of the States at the IUCN Congress (unfortunately, France unsurprisingly abstained...).

It is now necessary to move from promises to actions, and this is often where the problem lies... so let's keep up the pressure to protect the seabed!