Call to stop deep sea mining

National

A representative of Caritas Oceania has called for an immediate stop to all deep sea mining activity in the region, including exploratory testing.
Director of Caritas Aotearoa (New Zealand) Julianne Hickey told a United Nations gathering in New York that deep sea mining would undermine the ability to achieve the UN sustainable development goals.
Hickey said this while speaking at the event associated with a United Nations high level political forum on the progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals.
Hickey expressed deep concerns about the long-term impact on the oceans and marine life arising from experimental deep sea mining, saying that the technology involved was still in its infancy and was not credible to talk about so-called ‘best-practice’ regulatory regimes in the Oceania region.
“A factor that exacerbates the risks is the huge reliance of communities on the oceans. For example, our community partners in Kiribati and the Solomon Islands rely on the oceans and healthy marine ecosystems for their very livelihoods,” Hickey said.
The specific goal on which Hickey made her presentation was Goal 14 – Conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources.
Caritas Oceania works closely with organisations in Samoa, Kiribati, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.