Europe Calling “Into the Abyss?” – Webinar on deep-sea mining with German Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke & others

Recording

Dear friends,

Time is running out: as early as this summer, the last pristine wilderness on earth that has so far been largely spared from exploitation could become a victim of our hunger for raw materials: the deep-sea floor. Then the International Seabed Authority (ISA) could give the green light for the mining of polymetallic nodules and other minerals from the seabed that contain copper, nickel, rare earths and other metals. This would be catastrophic, because research into the deep sea, its role for nature, the environment and the climate, is still in its infancy. It is estimated that less than 0.01% of the deep-sea floor has been scientifically studied in detail so far!

In short, we know almost nothing about what some mining corporations and countries supporting them now want to destroy.

How could it have come to this? Actually, there should be no deep-sea mining until it is certain that it can take place at all without serious harm to the climate and the environment. But instead of waiting for the ongoing negotiations at the International Seabed Authority and scientific research, the government of the island state of Nauru has triggered a two-year countdown in the UN treaties, in cooperation with a Canadian mining company: If no rules for mining are adopted within two years (by 9 July 2023), unregulated commercial deep-sea mining could go ahead – even without sufficient rules for the protection of the seabed. And the first mining attempts are already underway.

Opposition to these dangerous plans is forming in politics, civil society, science and industry – still largely unnoticed by the European public.

In this Europe Calling webinar, we want to bring all these groups together on the very day (7 March 2023) when the next round of these decisive negotiations starts, in order to inform and strengthen resistance. For this purpose, we are cooperating with the Environmental Justice Foundation, which will present its latest report on deep-sea mining on the same day.

When. Tuesday, 7 March 2023, 6:00pm to 7:30pm CET (Brussels/Berlin)

Our guests are:

• Steffi Lemke, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection of Germany
• Steven Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation
• Lisa Levin PhD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, USA, one of the leading experts on deep seabed research
• Claudia Becker, Senior Expert Sustainable Supply Chain Management at the car manufacturer BMW, who opposes deep-sea mining.
• Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action

Register now here: Link to registration

Join us and invite others! The webinar will be simultaneously translated into English and German.

With European greetings,

Maximilian Fries and everyone at Europe Calling