Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent deep sea mining.

This Government supports a moratorium on the granting of exploration licences for deep sea mining projects by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). The UK recognises the impacts of deep sea mining are not fully understood and supports a moratorium on the granting of mining licences by the ISA until sufficient scientific evidence is available to assess the potential impact of deep-sea mining activities on marine ecosystems, and strong, enforceable environmental regulations, standards and guidelines are adopted by the ISA.