Letter

Say No to Deep-Sea Mining

318,424 signatures. Let’s get to 350K

Add your name to the official letter to stop deep-sea mining, and we’ll deliver your signature to United Nations and International Seabed Authority Leaders.


Update: 24 nations have now taken positions against deep-sea mining in international waters: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Palau, Panama, Portugal, Samoa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, the United Kingdom, and Vanuatu.

For decades, large corporations have poisoned rivers, devastated forests, and displaced communities. Now, they’re rushing to mine minerals from the last untouched frontier on the planet — the deep sea.

The deep sea may be vast and unexplored, but it is incredibly important. It encompasses 95% of the ocean’s volume and is the largest and least explored of Earth’s ecosystems. Some scientists believe that the deep sea and its water column may be the largest carbon sink on Earth, and new species are still being found there.

A UN body called the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is responsible for governing and protecting the deep seabed on behalf of humankind as a whole. In practice, the ISA Secretariat routinely prioritizes the interests of pro-mining governments and companies over the protection of our fragile ecosystems. Since 2001, the ISA has granted 31 exploration licenses for contractors to explore for minerals beyond national jurisdiction in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.

Deep-sea mining would dwarf all other mining operations in human history, and it would take place in a part of the planet that we are only just now beginning to understand. If this dangerous experiment goes wrong, it risks triggering a domino effect of unintended consequences that could destabilize the ocean, trigger food insecurity, and affect all life on Earth.

As citizens concerned about the future of our planet, we urge you to support a moratorium on deep-sea mining and protect the ecosystems that we all rely upon.

Add your name to the letter to #DefendtheDeep.

Click here to view the official letter.


Key Signatories
  1. Sylvia Earle - Explorer, Biologist, Environmentalist

  2. Jane Fonda - Actress, Activist, Environmentalist 

  3. Robert Redford - Actor, Filmmaker

  4. Ted Turner - Founder, CNN, TBS, and UN Foundation 

  5. HM Queen Noor Al Hussein - Queen Dowager of Jordan

  6. Jackson Browne - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee

  7. Bertrand Piccard - Explorer, Chair of the Solar Impulse Foundation 

  8. Sven Lindblad  - CEO, Lindblad Expeditions

  9. Gerry Lopez - Surfer, Actor, Yogi

  10. Graeme Kelleher - Former Chairman and CEO, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

  11. David Shaw - Managing Partner, Blackpoint Group LP

  12. Robert Weir - Founding Member, Grateful Dead

  13. Wade Davis - Writer, Explorer, Photographer, Filmmaker 

  14. Tom Gruber - Co-founder of Siri

  15. Frederick Paulson - CEO, Ferring Pharmaceuticals

  16. M. Sanjayan - CEO, Conservation International

  17. Pirry - Director, Journalist, Environmentalist

  18. Michael Jacobs - Sustainability & Social Innovation Leader, IBM

  19. Jonathan Batty - Director of Public Relations, IBM

  20. Pierre Ramadier - Global Head of Entrepreneurs & Families, BNPP

  21. Pierre Rousseau - Senior Executive Manager, BNPP

  22. Erin Urquhart - Associate Program Manager, NASA

  23. Oliver Steeds - Journalist, Broadcaster

  24. Jay Inslee - Governor of Washington

  25. Esha Gupta – Actress, Model, Environmentalist

  26. Shawn Heinrichs - Photographer, Filmmaker, Environmentalist

  27. Julie Packard - CEO of the Monterey Bay Aquarium


Group Signatories

We’d like to offer a special thank you to the Oxygen Project, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition for their critical support and leadership on this campaign. 55,609 of the signatures reflected are carried over from a previous, identical letter on The Oxygen Project website.

Supporters
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Yenssi R

i believe in protecting wild life

2 weeks ago
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Olivia M

for the future of humanity and unknown biodiversity on a unique, cosmic planet. The only one we all have right now.

2 months ago
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Tori P

protect our seas. simple as that

2 months ago
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Shelby C

Water is life. We need to protect our water systems in order to protect life on this planet. We don't need more fossil fuels, we need more renewable…

2 months ago
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Ravn Angelion V

think about marine life:(( they never did anything wrong,, why would you destroy their home:(((

3 months ago
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Rodrigo V

I want a future for my kids

3 months ago
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Isabelle V

on ne peut pas continuer à détruire les océans.

3 months ago
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Barbara B

I care about our oceans.

3 months ago
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Mari P

because I love the sea andbits animals and wat to protect it for the future

3 months ago
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Sabine D

AGAIN CORPORATIONS DESTROYIBG A BEAUTIFUL PLANET !!! NO JUSTIFICATION FOR GREED 😔😡😡

3 months ago
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Suzanne H

we need to protect our oceans and those who live in it

3 months ago
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Alexa H

this is what will completely ruin our planet. like no going back. this is not a sustainable practise. this will diminish everything.....

3 months ago
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Kayla O

The deep sea is part of the world that we have yet to explore. why plan on destroying it before we seen all of it thats just cruel and selfish.

3 months ago
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Justin T

NO TO DEEP SEA MINING

3 months ago
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Alicia M

i want tbis to stop

3 months ago
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Ushton R

PROTECT THE OCEANS, PROTECT THE PLANET FROM OURSELVES

3 months ago
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Julia K

because the future matters, and humans have right to destroy the future of all animals of earth for monetary gain.

3 months ago
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cheyanne C

stop doing more harm than whats already done.

3 months ago
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Vickerry N

i wish to dothe right thing

3 months ago
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Rebecca B

The deep sea already faces warming, acidification, loss of whalefall and plastic pollution. Who knows the harm we could do?

3 months ago
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Iindsay R

We don't need to take any more habitats away or hurt anything else! we've already taken enough from Earth!

3 months ago
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Tyita B

Our marine life needs protected from destroying their habitats.

3 months ago
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isabella M

i am signing because i want to help save not only my generation but also future generations like our kids

3 months ago
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Miranda C

i want to protect the sea floor and the precious species that depend on it. i want humanity to stop wrecking our environment and to respect the world…

3 months ago
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Matt D

i care

3 months ago
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