The past few weeks have been a period of intense organising, collaborating, and a growing solidarity among Jamaican activists, working on a campaign to stop deep sea mining. You can get a taste of what they have been doing here: protests, media interviews (a Gleaner editorial, no less), social media posts, and of course regular meetings. Their steady focus and willingness to work together for the cause has been commendable and, indeed, inspiring. Please take a look at this short video directed by Jamaican filmmaker Esther Figueroa, which illustrates the views of the protesters, and feel the energy and commitment.
A key environmental non-profit organisation, Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), is a strong supporter of all this activity, which is ongoing. Below is their press release in response to comments by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith at a press briefing this week – which, we feel, was quite helpful for the general Jamaican public, but did not go far enough with an outright call for a pause on deep sea mining.
Minister Johnson Smith’s brief remarks in full can be seen on Facebook and were echoed by the Prime Minister.The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is headquartered in Kingston and Jamaica is a member of the ISA Council, which concluded its meeting on March 31. A critical part of Minister Johnson Smith’s statement to me was to emphasise that “protection of our marine environment is of paramount importance to this Government.” She went further to declare: “Deep seabed mining will not start and the Jamaican Government certainly will not agree to the commencement of deep sea mining until the relevant regulatory framework, which includes protection of the marine environment, is in place… but we are not at all clear on when these regulations are likely to be finalised.” She stressed that negotiations are ongoing.
Minister Johnson Smith also pointed out that “the area” targeted for exploitation is “way beyond” Jamaica and many other territories, so we should not worry that deep sea mining is on our doorstep, so to speak. However, we must realise that on our Blue Planet everything is connected – including our oceans. What happens “way over there” could affect us at home.
It’s crunch time – the real crunch time. Since the ISA Council closed its meeting without a clear agreement to go ahead or not (despite Chile, Germany, Spain, Costa Rica, several Pacific nations calling for a moratorium and the French Government voting for an outright ban) it is quite possible that deep sea mining could begin as early as July of this year. As the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council declared:
April 13, 2023
Kingston, Jamaica
Civil society groups urge GOJ to join in the call for a moratorium on DSM
We, the undersigned would like to acknowledge the position of the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) to not support deep sea mining (DSM) without a suitable regulatory framework being in place. This was announced in the media on August 3, 2022 and again on April 12, 2023 in a press briefing by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Hon Kamina Johnson Smith. We once again, however, urge the GOJ to join with the twelve other nations calling for a moratorium on DSM until a number of conditions around environmental harm and good governance can be met.
The deep sea is a vital and virtually unstudied ecosystem, the largest on the planet, which is already under stress from pollutants, microplastics and climate related impacts. The deep sea stands between us and the worst impacts of the climate breakdown by absorbing the greenhouse gases and excess heat produced by human activity.
Over the last few months delegates have been meeting at the International Seabed Authority (ISA), headquartered in Kingston, to discuss the regulations for DSM which is expected to go ahead in July 2023 because of a “two-year rule” that was triggered in June 2021. These regulations are being discussed in spite of the significant environmental risks and high degree of scientific uncertainty.
Ms. Robyn Young, Youth Leader – Jamaica and Projects & Administrative Coordinator, from Sustainable Ocean Alliance Caribbean said “We appreciate the clarification from Minister Johnson Smith regarding deep seabed mining. This is wonderful news and a step in the right direction to ensure the protection of all countries whose marine ecosystems will inevitably be affected should regulations remain undefined. We understand that it takes small actions to effect waves of change and we stand firmly behind our principles to protect and preserve the marine environment.”
Ms. Dahvia Hylton, youth advocate with the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council said “I commend the minister for her dedication to see regulations be put in place before deep sea mining can begin. I however urge delegates of the ISA to take the conversation a lot further and question what kinds of regulations can come about within such hurried timelines and without enough scientific data on the Deep Sea. The fair stance is to join the call for a moratorium on deep sea mining. There can be no proper regulations without more data.”
Dr. Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) said “We note the Minister’s emphasis that DSM is not expected to take place in Jamaican waters, but the impacts have the potential to affect Jamaica and other Caribbean islands and their fisheries. The deep sea is nothing less than the common heritage of mankind.”
We therefore urge the Jamaican Government to join in the call for a moratorium as a leader in the Caribbean and as a small island developing state already trying to cope with the impacts of the climate crisis.
SIGNED BY THE FOLLOWING GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS:
Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council (JCCYC)
Dahvia Hylton
(876) 365-7860
Jamaica Environment Trust (JET)
Dr. Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie
Sustainable Ocean Alliance Caribbean
Robyn Young
Diana McCaulay, Founder JET, environmental activist
Emma Lewis, Blogger and environmental advocate @petchary
Esther Figueroa, PhD, Vagabond Media
