Green Economy in a Blue World-Full Report

associated with these deposits, including spatial connectivity within and between bioregions (larval dispersal, recruitment, gene flow, etc.) and the resilience of the ecosystems (Van Dover, et al., 2011 and Nautilus, 2008). In principle, destruction of ecosystems associated with deep-sea minerals might involve the loss of ‘existence values’ 1 , or ‘bequest values’, or there may be future-use values of which we are currently unaware (also known as ‘option values’). In practice, passive and option values (existence and bequest values) are likely to increase for three reasons: 1) people will become more aware of these habitats, especially the specific habitats where mining is proposed; 2) any future mining activity will decrease the number of available mining sites, and thereby potentially increase their value; and 3) potential non-extractive uses of deep- sea habitats including medicinal applications, bio-engineering, or even tourism may become relevant. Given that current passive and option values for these habitats are exceedingly small, as mining operations and associated research expand, these values are only likely togrowaswe learn more about these habitats. Consequently, in addition to prudent management there needs to be a programme of scientific research, dissemination of results and ongoing public consultation. Getting marine minerals from the seafloor to market requires a life cycle which affects a wide range of environments, not only those directly associated with the deposit (see textbox above). Onshore operations, which may include infrastructure development, ore transfer, crew transfer, minerals processing and transport, etc. have the potential to affect local water and air quality, and will result in carbon emissions. The potential economic cost of these environmental damages has not been estimated. A reduction in local environmental quality may also pose a public health risk to local communities. Although deep-sea mining does not face the same landowner issues as many land-based developments, there is still a need to consult with local communities as the exploitation of resources may impinge on customary rights and connections to the ocean, including economic, cultural, social, political and religious rights. At present there is no track record on which to judge the performance of companies 1. Existence value can be defined as the benefit derived from simply knowing something exists even if it is never used. Existence values are often associated with marine biodiversity (Hageman, 1985). Bequest value is the value placed on the knowledge that resources and opportunities will be available to future generations (Beaumont et al. 2007)

involved in deep-sea mining, but the impacts and changes evident to the environment from on-land mining signal the need to apply the precautionary principle 2 to development. 2.2 Environmental Opportunities It may at first glance appear that deep-sea mining offers very few environmental ‘opportunities’ but advocates of deep-sea mining have argued that focusing mineral exploration on the deep sea is significantly better for the environment than the continued exploitation of minerals on land (Branan, 2007 and Schrope, 2007). The reasons put forward include less waste, smaller mine footprint, reusable infrastructure, lower greenhouse gas generation and easier site remediation. The trend of terrestrial mining to exploit ores of increasingly lower grades results in larger and larger amounts of waste material being generated. The comparatively high grade of deep-sea ores and the general absence of overburden means that, in comparison to on-land mining, there is likely to be a much smaller mine footprint and much less waste generation (Scott, 2001). Historically mining waste has often caused serious pollution – contamination of waterways, increased sedimentation and acid mine drainage – but due to the minimal amount of waste theorized to be generated at deep-sea mine sites, toxic waste is considered to pose less of a problem with marine mining. Deep-sea mining is not likely to displace most land-based mining, however, unless policy actions are implemented to limit or at least charge for environmental impacts associated with mining (see text box). increased knowledge of deep-sea biological communities. For example, private company funded research in the Manus Basin, Papua New Guinea, has already produced a significant body of literature on vent communities and the physio-chemical conditions surrounding hydrothermal systems. The value of these scientific discoveries is difficult to quantify, but it is clear that the costs of conducting such research in the absence of commercial exploration would be high and therefore may not occur. Increased knowledge assists with the management and conservation of deep-sea environments. Deep-sea mining activity and the habitat-mapping data it could generate can be used to define meaningful marine protected areas in regions of the deep sea where there is currently very sparse information. 2. Principle 15 – the Precautionary Principle, contained in the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, states that, “Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost- effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.” Deep-sea mining activity may provide environmental spin-offs, which include

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