Despite the moratorium, a ship is working on an underwater mine

Civil society in Port Moresby has denounced the removal of 180 tonnes of materials from the coast of New Ireland province. Officially, Papua New Guinea had suspended all projects for 10 years since 2019. In Jamaica, the International Seabed Authority is due to elect a new Secretary General, a key figure in setting the rules for this new and controversial form of extractive activity, which is being pushed for by the global industry.

Port Moresby () – Despite a ten-year moratorium declared by the Port Moresby government in 2019, foreign companies continue to extract materials from the seabed off the coast of Papua New Guinea to prepare for massive deep-sea mining activities, the controversial new frontier of the extractive industry that targets the sea as an immense reserve of raw materials. This was announced yesterday at a press conference in Port Moresby by the Solwara 1 Warriors, a cartel of local organisations – which also includes the Papua New Guinea Council of Churches – which has long been involved in the fight against this new and serious threat to the local ecosystem. Mavis Tito, director of Caritas, was present at the meeting, representing the Catholic Church.

The Canadian company Nautilus Minerals Limited, which had hoped to establish itself as a pioneer in this sector through the Solwara project for the extraction of copper and gold from the seabed, is reported to have returned to Papua New Guinea in the form of a new company called Deep Sea Mining Finance Limited. Between May and June, the local population noted a series of activities, including the presence of a foreign ship called Coco off the west coast of the Namatanai district in the province of New Ireland. The ship is reported to have extracted some 180 tonnes of material from the seabed as a sample for examination in Singapore.

The Mineral Resources Authority (MRA), the Environmental Conservation and Protection Authority (CEPA) and the New Ireland Provincial Government all claim to be unaware of any such activity. Whoever allowed the ship to be present has therefore done so in secret, keeping the people of the province and the whole of Papua New Guinea in the dark. This is why a new appeal has been launched calling for the effective enforcement of the absolute ban on deep-sea mining in the country. “Seabed mineral exploitation,” said its secretary Michael Guka on behalf of the Papua New Guinea Council of Churches, “is neither necessary nor permitted. The ocean is the blue heart of the planet and it is the responsibility of all of us to be its guardians.”

Papua New Guinea’s complaint was made just a few days ago when the activities of the Council and Assembly of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) began in Jamaica, the body through which the countries of the world are called upon to establish rules for this new frontier of the extractive industry. There is a very strong confrontation between some countries that are pushing for a moratorium to be adopted until a clear framework of rules for the protection of the marine environment is defined and those that are pushing for the start of this type of activity in the concessions already assigned by the Authority. In this respect, the election of the new Secretary General of the ISA, which will take place on August 2, will be crucial. The election will be between the outgoing president, the British Michael Lodge, accused by environmental movements of being too sensitive to pressure from extractive companies, and the Brazilian scientist and diplomat Leticia Carvalho.