Google, BMW, Volvo and other top firms sign WWF’s petition to ban deep-sea mining

World’s top global firms including the search engine Google, and automakers BMW, and Volvo on Tuesday signed the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) petition to ban the destructive practice of deep-sea trawling on seamounts, or submarine mountains, and other rich ecological marine regions. The petition was initiated by the recreational fishers through WWF-New Zealand, in collaboration with environmental groups Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, ECO, Forest and Bird, Greenpeace, and LegaSea. Since launch, the petition garnered 800,000 signatures urging the International SeaBed Authority to take more rigorous steps towards developing a draft regulatory framework on seabed mining, which should include environmental management plans, MPAs, and greater transparency.

Companies said they were committed “not to source minerals from the deep seabed; to exclude such minerals from our supply chains, and not to finance deep seabed mining activities," according to AP. 

Destruction to marine ecosystems

The petition has been supported by tech giants such as Samsung's EV battery unit and Google and many other leading global companies that raised calls for the preservation of marine ecosystems and biodiversity. The firms are seeking to oppose the extraction of metallic nodules and other deposits from hydrothermal vents in the oceanic bed, which many other companies deem essential for industrial innovation. However, according to WWF, these deep seabed mining for metals and minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel have a destructive impact on deep-sea ecosystems and biodiversity. This, in turn, compromises fisheries, livelihoods, and food security, and compromises ocean carbon and nutrient cycles. 

“Industry wants us to think mining the deep sea is necessary to meet the demand for minerals that go into electric vehicle batteries and the electronic gadgets in our pockets. But it’s not so,” says Jessica Battle, leader of WWF’s No Deep Seabed Mining Initiative in a WWF statement.

“We don’t have to trash the ocean to decarbonize. Instead, we should be directing our focus toward innovation and the search for less resource-intensive products and processes. We call on investors to look for innovative solutions and create a true circular economy that reduces the need to extract finite resources from the Earth,” she asserted. 

According to WWF, deep seabed mining has been estimated at US$2-20 billion which is only a fraction of the humongous sustainable ocean economy which generates an estimated US$1.5-2.4 trillion and supports coastal communities. WWF called for the scientists, and world leaders for a global moratorium on deep seabed mining unless and until the environmental, social and economic risks were comprehensively understood. 

“It underlines the importance of ecological considerations in a comprehensive well-to-wheel perspective, and automakers will now at least hesitate to use minerals mined from the ocean in their electric vehicle batteries," AP quoted Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management in Germany as saying. 

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