Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential environmental impact of deep-sea mining on the seabed.

Defra works closely with leads across Government to advise on the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining and the provision of effective protection for the marine environment. This includes collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade, which is responsible for state sponsorship of UK Seabed Resources’ two exploration contracts, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which leads the UK delegation to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the international organisation through which States Parties organise and control deep-sea mining activities.

We recognise the growing pressure to extract deep-sea resources and are deeply concerned about the potential impacts of mining activities on the fragile marine environment. This is why the UK will maintain its precautionary and conditional position of not sponsoring or supporting the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and a strong, enforceable environmental regulatory framework has been developed at the ISA and is in place.

Informed by evidence, we continue to listen to and contribute to discussions on deep-seabed mining, including those at the ISA, pressing for the highest environmental standards in relation to existing exploration activity, and potential future commercial exploitation should that be approved by the ISA.

The UK is continuing to develop a better understanding of the impacts of deep-sea mining. Through Government sponsorship of academic research and existing exploration licences, over 70 peer-reviewed publications supporting a greater understanding of environmental issues have already been produced, with more to come. The Government also commissioned an independent review from the British Geological Survey, the National Oceanography Centre and Heriot-Watt University to provide a comprehensive description of current research related to deep-sea mining. It includes elements such as environmental, economic and societal considerations, and identifies key outstanding questions and evidence gaps. The terms of reference and a summary of the evidence review were published October 2022, in line with our commitment to transparency and developing the global evidence base in relation to deep-sea mining.

The UK Government is also funding the five-year SMARTEX project on seabed mining and resilience to experimental impacts, which aims to build a better understanding of the ecosystem in the Pacific abyss. In particular, the SMARTEX project aims to add to the scientific evidence base for informed decision-making by understanding the long-term environmental impacts of mining and whether this will have serious consequences for the ecosystem.