“THE URGENT NEED FOR HIGH SEAS PROTECTION – The current way of managing the high seas puts corporate interests before the long-term health of our oceans. If states or corporations want to fish, drill or mine the high seas, there are organisations and processes that enable them to do so. In the case of seabed mining, the International Seabed Authority was set up to control all mineral-related activities, including deep-sea mineral exploration and extraction. However, there is still no agreed global process to identify and create multi-sector protected areas and marine reserves on the high seas, let alone monitor and control them. Currently only a tiny fraction – less than 1% of the high seas – is protected, despite political commitments to protect 10% of the world’s ocean by 2020 and scientists recommending 20-50% protection. There is also no global requirement for the industry to undertake environmental impact assessments that take into account the cumulative impacts of human activities, before extractive and potentially damaging activities were allowed to take place on the high seas. This is why Greenpeace is demanding a high seas biodiversity agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to protect marine life in areas beyond national jurisdiction. This agreement would enable the establishment, monitoring and enforcement of marine protected areas and marine reserves, and mandate a requirement for robust environmental impacts assessments for high seas activities. The large majority of countries support a global agreement to protect the high sea, but a small number continue to slow progress. At the Rio+20 summit that took place in June 2012, governments committed to take a decision on the development of a global agreement under UNCLOS by the end of 2014, at the UN General Assembly, where issues can be taken to a vote. Nations must now take this forward with urgency and determination.” DEEP SEABED MINING AN URGENT WAKE-UP CALL TO PROTECT OUR OCEANS.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 03:13:45 +0000
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