Today the European Commission published the EU agenda on International Ocean Governance, announcing its intention to “prohibit deep-sea mining until scientific gaps are properly filled, no harmful effects arise from mining and the marine environment is effectively protected”.
The European Commission published this position in a Communication to the European Parliament and Council entitled ‘Setting the course for a sustainable blue planet – Joint Communication on the EU’s International Ocean Governance agenda‘.
This marks a shift to a much stronger position from the Commission on deep-sea mining, in line with the calls for moratorium of the European Parliament, Pacific Parliamentarians and the IUCN, along with numerous other stakeholders from civil society and the corporate world. See a full list of actors calling for a moratorium here.