Deep sea mining (DSM) has been considered by over 900 marine science and policy experts from over 70 countries to be an additional stressor to the marine environment, which will “result in the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that would be irreversible on multi-generational timescales”. They therefore strongly recommend that the process should be halted for the time being.
The world’s largest environmental conservation network, the IUCN, which includes government institutions such as Japan’s Ministry of Environmental agreed on a resolution that calls for a pause on DSM. The IUCN resolution makes it clear that under the current status, robust scientific information is lacking to make informed decisions on whether or not to authorize DSM without causing significant damage to the marine environment.
In other words, it is now common wisdom that DSM is a technology that should move forward yet.
Despite this situation, major DSM projects are planned to move forward in Japanese waters with scales comparable to commercial scale in 2025. If this moves forward it could be the largest scale of mining allowed in the history of humanity without robust environmental impact assessment or regulations put in place.
Can we allow this to happen?
The plan is not fully disclosed, but what do we know about it? Why does the global community understand DSM to be a threat? And is it even worth the investment?
We will hear from environmental experts with experience participating in international debates on DSM and from an activist representing the voices of the Pacific who are said to be most impacted by DSM.
Date: November 19th, 2024 18:30-20:30 JST (GMT+9)
Venue: Attendance is allowed for free either through Zoom or in-person at Rengo-Kaikan conference hall 203 in Ochanomizu, Tokyo (https://rengokaikan.jp/access/index.html)
Language: English and Japanese (simultaneous interpretation will be made available)
Registration: https://pro.form-mailer.jp/fms/dfd2c310102067
(The registration page is in Japanese but Google Translate will work quite well. Only fill in the necessary boxes to register).
Inquiries: Contact Shigeru Tanaka at the Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC) at office@parc-jp.org or +81-3-5209-3455
Participation Fee: Free
Co-host: Fair Finance Guide Japan, Friends of the Earth Japan, and Pacific Asia Resource Center