Source: Jamaica Observer
Author: Avia Collinder
ISA member states sped up negotiations on the rules to regulate the deep-sea mining industry and met in Kingston, Jamaica, in March 2022. ISA is headquartered in Jamaica’s capital city.
In a release sent to the Jamaica Observer on April 20, Greenpeace said that allegations of lack of independence and transparency between the ISA and the mining industry reinforce the need for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
Arlo Hemphill of Greenpeace said that “the ISA has a mandate to protect the seabed and to regulate any future deep-sea mining industry, yet it seems they are only focused on the launch of a new destructive global extractive industry. The conservation aspect of their mandate has been all but ignored.”
Hemphill said that yet another crucial reason that it is essential that deep-sea mining is not allowed: the ISA is not fit for purpose.
He noted, “The recent LA Times report uncovers questionable practices that seem to blur the line between regulator and profiteer in the ISA, which operates outside the UN umbrella and is not subject to existing UN impartiality and staff regulations. Under Lodge’s stead, the ISA has never turned down a licence application.
He said, “it also raises the question of whether Lodge can lead a UN body responsible for protecting the depths of our planet. The deep ocean, one of the world’s largest, most fragile, and important ecosystems, must remain off-limits to the mining industry.”