Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of putting in place a comprehensive system of environmental protection before deep sea mining operations are allowed to commence in oceans worldwide.

The UK is committed to the development and implementation by the International Seabed Authority of a deep sea mining code in respect of areas outside national jurisdiction. A clear red line for the United Kingdom is that such a code, which is a prerequisite for the commencement of deep sea mining operations, ought to contain strong environmental protection. A first draft of a mining code was released by the International Seabed Authority in July 2016, and the UK will be submitting comments in due course.