Canada opposes commercial seabed mining without environmental assessment, regulations

Canada is against commercial seabed mining in international waters without a comprehensive understanding of its environmental impacts and a robust regulatory regime, the federal government said on Monday.

“In the absence of both a comprehensive understanding of seabed mining’s environmental impacts and a robust regulatory regime, Canada supports a moratorium on commercial seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction and will not support the provisional approval of a plan of work,” the government said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the Canadian government said it would not allow mining in its domestic ocean seabeds without a “rigorous regulatory structure” and that the need for natural resources does not override Ottawa’s environmental commitments.

(By Ismail Shakil; Editing by Franklin Paul)