Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made representations to international partners on a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

On 30 October 2023 the UK Government announced its support for a moratorium on the granting of exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). The UK set out this position to international partners at the 28th Session of the Council at the International Seabed Authority in November 2023. The UK's announcement makes clear that the UK recognises the impacts of deep sea mining are not fully understood and our position is to support research proactively, using UK scientific expertise, to improve international understanding and develop strong and enforceable ISA environmental regulations, standards and guidelines on deep sea mining before any such projects commence.