Brazil Wants 10-Year Pause On Deep Sea Mining

Brazil has urged a 10-year precautionary pause on deep sea mining in international waters just days after companies and countries were allowed to start applying for provisional licenses, Danica Coto reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Nauru noted that its “good-faith decision” does not mean officials are withdrawing their plan to pursue deep sea mining.

The call came during a two-week conference held by the International Seabed Authority, a regulatory UN agency based in Jamaica that failed to approve a set of rules and regulations to govern deep sea mining by a July 9 deadline.

The agency has not issued any provisional licenses, nor has it received any applications, although the government of Nauru is expected to apply soon for a license via the Canadian-based Metals Co.

The government of the tiny Pacific island said that it wants to diversify its “limited economic base,” but promised it would not sponsor an application during the UN conference, which ends July 21.

Nauru noted that its “good-faith decision” does not mean officials are withdrawing their plan to pursue deep sea mining. “We’re no longer in a ‘what if’ scenario, but ‘what now’?” said Margo Deiye, Nauru’s permanent representative to the International Seabed Authority.

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