Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) network of hubs in Africa have joined forces to tackle the evolving threat of deep seabed mining which threatens the health of the ocean and the larger climate system.
Deep seabed mining if allowed will “exploit biodiverse and fragile ecosystems that will result in severe environmental impacts that we cannot fully understand, let alone predict or mitigate,” said team lead Gideon Sarpong.
The hubs in Ghana, Nigeria (Lagos) and Cameroon will hold several regional policy dialogues and deploy a campaign to ensure that decision-making processes around deep-seabed mining by the Africa group and at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) are inclusive, transparent, accountable, adequately account for intergenerational equity and ensure the protection of marine biodiversity.
Gideon Sarpong, who is also the Hub Leader in Ghana stated that, “the knowledge gap on the topic of ocean mining and its potential environmental impact on biodiversity and ecosystems must be adequately communicated to decision makers.”
“The African group representing African states at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) must support the moratorium on deep-seabed mining, for at least 10 years, in line with the UN Decade of Ocean Science” he added.
Meanwhile, Forbi Perise, SOA Africa Representative and Hub Leader in Cameroon hopes to engage more than 20 University lecturers and professors in two higher educational institutions in the DSBM African Coalition project.
“We plan to involve more than 500 students/ youths in our effort in advocating for the protection of the deep blue. Through multi stakeholder engagement our goal is get more attention towards the protection of the marine ecosystem,” he explained.
Hub Leader in Lagos, Adenike Adeiga will also use this initiative to engage key stakeholders to strengthen regulatory frameworks governing ocean mining and call for the creation of Marine Protected Areas in Nigeria.
The initiative which is expected to last until the end of the year and supported by Sustainable Ocean Alliance will ultimately galvanize stakeholder support to ensure that the youth’s position on deep-seabed moratorium is unambiguously represented by the Africa group at ISA.
By SOA Ghana