PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release – Updated 28.6.22
As the UN Ocean Conference gets underway and global attention turns towards the ocean, political resistance to the emerging deep-sea mining industry gains traction as Palau, Samoa, Fiji, Guam and 57 Parliamentarians all call for a halt to the destructive industry.
Yesterday the President of Palau, Surangel Whipps, Jr. joined the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and WWF at an official conference side event in Lisbon, calling on behalf of his government for an immediate moratorium on deep-sea mining. As the leader of the global call, the President launched the new Alliance of Countries Calling for a Deep-Sea Mining Moratorium. Oceanographer and marine biologist, Dr. Sylvia Earle, and Debbie Ngawera-Packer, Co-leader Te Pāti Māori, Member of Parliament, Aotearoa/New Zealand joined the President of Palau at the event to explore the wonders of the deep and the critical action needed to protect in the face of destructive mining.