David Attenborough calls for ban on sea-bed mining following study warning of “disastrous risks”

SIR David Attenborough has urged governments to ban deep sea mining saying it could cause a significant loss of biodiversity and disrupt the ocean’s “biological pump” as well as the loss of microbes for storing carbon, the Guardian newspaper said.

“The rush to mine this pristine and unexplored environment risks creating terrible impacts that cannot be reversed,” said Attenborough. “We need to be guided by science when faced with decisions of such great environmental consequence.”

His comments follow the publication of a study by Fauna & Flora International (FFI) which warns of “potentially disastrous” risks to the ocean’s life-support systems if mining of the sea-bed proceeds.

Dozens of exploratory licences, two of which are sponsored by the UK, have already been granted for huge tracts of the sea bed, ahead of a race to mine commercially for ores and minerals such as copper, used in mobile phones and batteries, said the Guardian.

The rules to govern the responsible exploitation of this global resource are not finalised – they are expected to be completed at a meeting in July at the UN International Seabed Authority, the newspaper said.

Attenborough, the vice-president of FFI, said deep sea mining could create a “… devastating series of impacts” threatening processes critical to the health and function of the oceans, and called on governments to be guided by scientists.

In a foreword to the report, Attenborough said it was “beyond reason” for countries to consider the destruction of deep sea places before they have understood them or the role they play in the health of the planet.