Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority ‘concerned’ with New Zealand’s call for deep sea mining ban
Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) will not back New Zealand’s call for conditional moratorium on deep sea mining in international waters.
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta confirmed in Parliament this week that her Government would support a conditional moratorium on the emerging mining practice, seeking a ban on seabed mining in international waters “until strong environmental rules can be agreed”.
NZ’s decision comes amid a review on a regulatory process to control deep sea mining in the area managed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is the seabed beyond exclusive economic zones and extended continental shelves.
“We’re saying when so little was known about the impact of deep-sea mining, then there should be no activity that takes place.”
A spokesman for the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority said: “the Authority agrees with the outcome New Zealand is trying to achieve – the adoption of strong environmental laws backed up by robust science before any minerals harvesting (or mining) takes place”.
“However, we may differ in our approach,” the spokesman said.
The spokesperson said the Authority considers that the focus should be on a concerted effort to progress, in good faith, the development of the International Seabed Authority’s regulatory framework, which has been ongoing for over seven years now.
“We are concerned that moratorium calls may further distract from the efforts to progress the work of the ISA.”
But Mahuta said the NZ government is not confident a robust regulatory framework for deep sea mining can be agreed by next year’s required deadline.
Cook Islands environmental group Te Ipukarea Society technical director Kelvin Passfield welcomed the New Zealand Government’s announcement.
“Te Ipukarea Society welcomes the announcement by the Government of Aotearoa New Zealand of their support for a conditional moratorium on deep sea mining in international waters,” Passfield said.
“New Zealand recognises that the ISA is required under international law to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from any activities in the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction.
“They will be calling on the ISA to do exactly that at their meeting next week in Jamaica,” he said.
“While Aotearoa New Zealand respects each country’s sovereign rights within their Exclusive Economic Zone, they also note that any mining of the deep seabed would need to be consistent with international legal obligations to protect and preserve the marine environment. This is very relevant to us here in the Cook Islands.”
Passfield said his organisation would encourage the Cook Islands to follow the lead of New Zealand, and at the ISA meeting next week, “speak out against the move by Nauru and the Metals Company to start mining in international waters of the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) as early as July 2023”.
Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority spokesman said: “We remain committed to responsibly and sustainably developing our seabed minerals sector in line with the precautionary approach, taking a science-based approach to decision making and having in place a robust regulatory framework. We have been consistent in this approach and would expect the same to apply in international waters.”
In February this year, Cook Islands Cabinet formally approved the three seabed minerals (SBM) exploration licence applications from CIC Limited, CIIC Seabed Resources Limited and Moana Minerals Limited.
Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority said New Zealand’s call for a conditional moratorium “does not directly impact on exploration activities in the Cook Islands as it only applies to international waters and does not extend to waters within national jurisdictions”.
“The Cook Islands are currently only allowing exploration activities within our waters, and we are yet to make any decisions about whether we will allow harvesting to occur,” the spokesman said.
When Mahuta visited the Cook Islands earlier this month, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown noted that the New Zealand and Cook Islands governments might be sailing in “different vaka” on the seabed mining issue.
Brown has often talked about the potential revenue that deep-sea mining could bring to the Cook Islands economy if done in a sustainable manner.
“This has the potential to match or even enhance our tourism industry earnings. It also is an opportunity for diversifying from the narrow base of relying solely on tourism. We saw what happened during Covid-19, where our GDP dropped by 25 per cent,” Brown said at a joint press conference with Mahuta earlier this month.
A Cook Islands News pre-election poll conducted in July asked: “Do you support seabed mining in Cook Islands waters in the future (five years’ time)?”.
Twenty-five per cent of people surveyed said they did not know, while 37.5 per cent said “yes” and 37.5 per cent said “no”.
Source by: Cook Islands News | Written by Matthew Littlewood | Published in Environment, National