Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy to introduce a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep-sea mining until a specific set of environmental, social and governance conditions are in place.

We judge that engaging fully with international negotiations at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is the most effective way for the UK to work with others so that no deep-sea mining takes place in the absence of strong and enforceable environmental regulations and standards.

The UK’s approach is both precautionary and conditional. As a responsible international actor and Party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the UK is fully engaged in the negotiations underway at the ISA and will work closely with partners who are committed to ensuring the highest environmental standards are embedded in the Regulatory framework of the ISA.