Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will update the UK’s licences with UK Seabed Resources for deep sea mining exploration in order to extend the conditions for sponsoring a future exploitation contract to cover the precautionary principle.

The UK is playing a crucial role in ensuring that strong environmental standards are upheld in the growing deep sea mining industry.

We have agreed not to sponsor or support the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and strong and enforceable environmental standards have been developed and put in place by the International Seabed Authority.

The licences issued to UK Seabed Resources Ltd (UKSR) already include significant conditions in relation to environmental considerations, including sections on protection of the environment and environmental monitoring & reporting. In addition, the licences are issued in line with prevailing legislation which provides further environmental safeguards. The licences (which are published on UKSR’s website) also include explicit reference to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the International Seabed Authority (ISA). The conditions for the UK acting as a sponsor state for an exploitation contract include that “the Licensee has completed exploration activities pursuant to the plan of work…” and that “the Licensee makes an application for, and satisfies the requirements for, an exploitation licence…”. These conditions would not be met without detailed evidence, including in relation to environmental assessments, and an exploitation licence would not be granted by the International Seabed Authority until strong and enforceable environmental standards have been developed and are in place.