Deep sea mining.

An email from Avaaz. This time – it is Norway!  Has the Norwegian parliament voted on it? I should have posted this Avaaz e-mail earlier. But exploitive legislation can be repealed even if it is not easy. Just as protective environmental legislation can be repealed and was, in Australia, when a Coalition government decreased the marine sanctuaries and there was a big fight to protect the Great Australian Bight from drilling.

‘This is our best chance to stop deep-sea mining before it starts! Tell your friends and family via Whatsapp and Facebook now, then forward the original email from Avaaz!   FACEBOOK   WHATSAPP ‘The twisted next generation of mining companies wants to send machines the size of buildings to rip up the seabed in search of minerals to sell – decimating all life wherever they go. And Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Støre is urging his Parliament to be the first to authorize this insanity. There’s still hope: the vote is in four weeks and a massive global outcry could tip the balance and save our oceans! Join now and we’ll deliver our voices directly to the Norwegian Parliament. Was this post [too late? What has been the decision, if it has been voted on? ‘Our forests are dead or dying. Our rivers are poisoned. Where there used to be mountains we’re left with corroded pits – scars in the Earth.’ And with aquifers made toxic by fracking. ‘This is what mining has done to our land. What would happen if we unleashed this horror on our oceans?’ ‘A key committee in Norway just took a huge step towards allowing this insanity, and we have just a few weeks to convince the full Parliament that some doors should never be opened.’ ‘Coastal countries like France, Canada, and the UK are against dangerous and untested deep-sea mining. But it only takes one to be the first, and Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is defying mounting international pressure and calling on MPs to allow deep-sea mining.’ ”The good news is that the world is starting to take notice – our sources in Norway tell us that PM Støre’s international reputation is taking a hit and that lawmakers are under intense pressure. The key vote was just four weeks away! Norway isn’t often the target of global people power, so a massive outpouring of international outrage could tip the balance and save our oceans!’ ‘ Norway: say NO to deep-sea mining! Experts say the seafloor at mining sites will be wiped clean of life. Whole ecosystems will disappear, with consequences we can’t even calculate. We need a “NO” vote in Norway, but this is about so much more. The world is deciding whether to start destroying the ocean floor like we have our mountains, rivers, and forests on land. And our sea kelp – our sea grasses and so much else as they tear through from the surface to reach the sea beds. ‘Imagine if we’d had the chance to stop chasing fossil fuels before we mined, fracked, drilled, and dredged our planet to the brink of catastrophe. We are there right now with our oceans.’ ‘Powerful countries are already calling to ban or at least pause these mining activities — to win time to regulate the deep sea properly. And even private companies are rallying behind.” Norwegian MPs [were] voting on deep-sea mining in four weeks. What happened? ‘Together we can stand with countries that are committed to protecting our oceans, and against politicians like Støre. Sign and share now, and we’ll rally the real ocean defenders! Norway: say NO to deep-sea mining Avaazers love the oceans and all ocean life – together, we’ve helped establish some of the largest marine reserves in history. When the blue whale was close to extinction, we brought millions together, and we convinced Europe to close its ports to whalers. Today our movement can join others to protect our oceans and their incredible animals from yet another threat: the irreversible destruction of their habitat on a multi-generational timescale.’ With hope and determination, Nate, Antonia, Mel, Huiting, John, and the whole Avaaz team More Information: Norway parliament deal marks major step towards seabed mining (Reuters) Deep-sea mining may disrupt whale communication, study finds (Reuters) Whale warning as clock ticks towards deep sea mining (Greenpeace) UK backs suspension of deep-sea mining in environmental U-turn (Guardian) WWF condemns Norway’s deep seabed mining plans as “one of the worst environmental decisions Norway has ever made” (WWF)’

In Australia, in 2023, the Petroleum Regulator gave no reasons why it allowed seismic drilling off the Pilbara coastline by Woodside in an area that will have a destructive effect on some of the oldest rock art in the world of the living culture of this continent’s First Nations. [See the ‘Ningaloo’ documentary by our public, citizen-owned ABC.]

And the important marine sanctuaries are under threat all the time from big business, on land and on the oceans. So often they are either producing fossil fuels or funding these corporations, now into deep sea mining. And they are subsidised from our revenue by governments, so often democratic governments – like Australia – that support them. How many of those fossil fuel corporations were lobbying at the UN Conference at Dubai?

And Australia wants to co-host the next UN Climate Change Conference with the Nations of the South Pacific.

Not one of these corporations is interested in the ultimate cost for the children of the world.