Cook Islands reiterates responsible and sustainable SBM development

The Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (Authority) notes the recent statements made by the New Zealand Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Nanaia Mahuta, regarding the call for a ‘conditional moratorium on deep sea mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction, until strong environmental rules can be agreed and backed up by robust science’.

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 Authority considers that the focus should be on a concerted effort to progress, in good faith, the development of the International Seabed Authority's (ISA) regulatory framework, which has been ongoing for over 7 years now.

We are concerned that moratorium calls may further distract from the efforts to progress the work of the ISA.

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.

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.

Queries on this release may be directed to Dede Mingi: [email protected]

Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority