Letter

Say No to Deep-Sea Mining

320,539 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: 27 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, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Palau, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Samoa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the kingdom of Denmark, 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
Bre F

I care.

11 hours ago
Megan D

mining the nervous system, lungs and DNA of our planet is the most dangerous and horrifying thing I've ever heard of

4 days ago
Patricia E

We should never bother anything there . Its only greed that is taking humans there . Stop destroying our planet

4 days ago
Pablo S

its important

2 weeks ago
Laura

I AM INTENSELY OBSESSED WITH PROTECTING THE OCEAN AND HER CREATURES!

3 weeks ago
Sierra J

i care

3 weeks ago
Susanna R

Because The Sea is cruicial part of our eco system and our home Earth and it needs our help now more than ever.

1 month ago
Dilnaz I

I am signing because say no to deep-sea mining! It destroys marine ecosystems, threatens biodiversity and worsens the climate situation. Let's protect…

1 month ago
Marina E

stop do it

1 month ago
Linda L

not right

2 months ago
Ruth Y

i am a Biologist and see the disasterous ecological dangers inherent in such a proposal!!!!!

2 months ago
Tiffany A

deep sea mining will destroy our oceans.

3 months ago
Autumn Q

We need are planet to heal!

4 months ago
Nan M

there is no planet B

4 months ago
Magdalena F

I understand the human-planet relationship, I respect it, I LOVE SEA LIFE and I really want to see it with my own eyes one day.

5 months ago
Fiona C

i cannot fathom how anyone with a drop of sense could think this is a good idea. Have we not raped the planet enough? The sealife?

5 months ago
Katlin R

without oceans humans will have nothing

5 months ago
Yenssi R

i believe in protecting wild life

7 months ago
Olivia M

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

8 months ago
Tori P

protect our seas. simple as that

9 months ago
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…

9 months ago
Ravn Angelion V

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

9 months ago
Rodrigo V

I want a future for my kids

9 months ago
Isabelle V

on ne peut pas continuer à détruire les océans.

9 months ago
Barbara B

I care about our oceans.

9 months ago
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