Environmental groups reject deep-sea mining as key UN meeting looms

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Environmental groups are urging a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of an international meeting in Jamaica where an obscure U.N. body will debate the issue amid fears it could soon authorize the world’s first license to harvest minerals from the ocea...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Environmental groups on Wednesday urged a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of a meeting in Jamaica of a U.N. body that conservationists fear will soon authorize the world’s first license to harvest minerals from the ocean floor.

More than 20 countries have called for a ban or moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of Monday's opening of a nearly two-week meeting of the U.N. International Seabed Authority’s council. Companies including Samsung and BMW also have pledged to avoid using minerals mined from the deep sea.

“Sea mining is one of the key environmental issues of our time, and this is because the deep sea is among the last pristine areas of our planet,” said Sofia Tsenikli, from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, a Netherlands-based alliance of environmental groups.

The development of clean energy technologies including electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines is driving up demand for metals such as copper, nickel and cobalt that mining companies say can be extracted from more than 600 feet (180 meters) below sea level.

Demand for lithium tripled from 2017 to 2022, while cobalt saw a 70% jump and nickel a 40% rise, according to a market review published in July by the International Energy Agency.

Mining companies say that harvesting minerals from the deep sea instead of land is cheaper and has less of an environmental impact. But scientists and environmental groups argue that less than 1% of the world’s deep seas have been