The high-seas drama over an ocean treasure trove

Mining company claims Greenpeace activists disrupted a research expedition when they boarded its vessel in the remote Pacific. As a result the campaign group could be thrown out of the UN body overseeing controversial plans to begin deep-sea mining. Greenpeace says the incident in question was a peaceful protest aimed at protecting a pristine ecosystem. Mining in the deep ocean could damage one of the few places on Earth untouched by man.

The deep ocean is rich in copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese. The International Seabed Authority is meeting this week to decide what rules should be applied to the area. Both the mining companies and green activists claim to be acting in the best interests of the planet. The US has never ratified the international treaty that created the ISA, so plays no active role with the body.

The ISA has said it aims to have rules in place by 2025. The Metals Company says the research trip interrupted by Greenpeace in November was for science that aimed to help improve knowledge of the effect nodule collection will have. It says the work had been requested by the ISA as part of an impact assessment and that Greenpeace deliberately hampered that effort when its activists boarded the company’s research vessel. The Metals Company plans to mine in an area of the Pacific Ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.

For years it was assumed that very little could live in these cold, dark and oxygen-poor depths. The density of living things is indeed low, but research over the last few decades has revealed a huge diversity of species. The Metals Company claims its research shows that while there will be damage in the area where mining takes place, the sediment plumes which could suffocate deep-sea creatures will only travel a few miles. The company acknowledges that the 75,000 sq km his company plans to mine is big, but says it represents a tiny proportion of the deep seabed.

Greenpeace maintains it was justified in disrupting The Metals Company#39;s research. 24 countries, including the UK, have said they support a moratorium on deep-sea mining. Greenpeace says it is clear that to protect the climate, we need to be restoring our oceans. British scientists are currently surveying species on the abyssal plain in the eastern Pacific.

They say licensing must wait until sufficient scientific evidence is available to assess the impact. Dr Adrian Glover of the Natural History Museum said he supported the regulatory process the UN has put in place. It is up to the international process, the regulatory process to assess the evidence critically… and ultimately decide whether it is acceptable or not. 34;.

The international process will assess theevidence critically,’ he said. It’s up to them to decide whether or not this is acceptable.