Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take as a member of the International Seabed Authority to work with other countries to achieve a global moratorium on deep seabed 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 ISA Council meeting in November 2023. Whether to support a moratorium on deep seabed mining is a matter for each ISA Member State to consider. The UK continues to engage proactively with other member States of the ISA and will attend the ISA Council and Assembly meetings in July this year.