Andy Whitmore, Deep Sea Mining Campaign
The Deep Sea Mining Campaign has published a briefing paper for financiers on deep sea mining’s (DSM) biodiversity risks and the potential impacts that investing in the sector could bring.
The COP agenda is increasingly recognising how central the question of finance is, both in terms of the 2022 framework having called for $700 billion per year for nature protection and restoration, alongside attempts to increasingly involve private finance in nature-based solutions. While this is a controversial area, one rela-tively easy decision that financiers and insurers can make is to avoid those sectors which carry the greatest risks for biodiversity.
The proposed new extractive industry of deep sea mining is a great example of a sector which can easily be avoided. DSM would result in a loss of biodiversity that would be irreversible on multi-generational timescales. The consequences for ocean ecosystem function, planetary systems, and for humanity, could be vast. Yet the level of risk associated with DSM cannot be fully understood yet thanks to a lack of research, which could take decades to close the scientific gaps.
Deep sea miners argue they need to push forward rapidly, despite the knowledge gap, in order to satisfy the world’s demand for minerals, particularly for the energy transition from fossil fuels. However, that is an assertion that is refuted by an evidence review from the European Academies Science Advisory Council.
The UNEP FI published an opinion that there is no foreseeable way in which the financing of DSM activities can be viewed as consistent with the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles.
As a new industry current financial exposure is likely to be limited, so it is easy for financiers to exclude it from their portfolios. The finance sector is increasingly
acknowledging DSM’s biodiversity risks, with to date 15 financial institutions – including some of the world’s largest banks and insurance companies – having published policies which explicitly exclude DSM activities. Yet more have signed up to the ‘Business statement supporting a moratorium on deep sea mining.’
It is clear that DSM represents an unnecessary threat to ocean biodiversity. It can be avoided before it starts, which is a decision that responsible financiers with a concern for biodiversity can easily make.