Niwa to assist deep-sea mining firm
Niwa will help a deep-sea mining company reduce possible damage caused by its planned mining of the Pacific Ocean sea floor.
The crown research institute will help assess and manage the environmental impacts of the Metals Company’s planned mining of the Clarion Clipperton Zone, an area of international seas to the east of Kiribati.
The emerging industry has divided Pacific nations. Nauru and Kiribati have sponsored mining projects, and the Cook Islands approved three exploration licences in February.
Four countries – Palau, Samoa, Fiji and Federated States of Micronesia – have created an alliance of countries that want a deep-sea mining moratorium.
New Zealand has been taking part in negotiations to set up laws on deep-sea mining at the International Seabed Authority (ISA), and may call for no such mining to occur if the negotiations fail to produce ‘‘effective’’ environmental protection.
Earlier this week, the Metals Company announced to the Nasdaq stock exchange that Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and Niwa would assist it with an environmental management plan for mining activity in the Clarion
Clipperton Zone.
The work would ‘‘form the scientific foundation of a state-of-the-art predictive system’’ that would mitigate the impact of mining ‘‘as much as possible’’, the company said.
Nauru, Kiribati and Tonga have all sponsored the Metals Company’s proposed mining of metal-rich nodules found at the bottom of the ocean.
A Niwa spokeswoman confirmed the agency was helping the mining firm. She did not directly answer questions about why Niwa was assisting the mining firm, if it was being paid, or whether Government agencies had supported the decision. The Guardian has reported the Metals Company was paying the Australian agency and Niwa $1.5 million.
‘‘Niwa provides independent, objective, world-class environmental research with globally renowned experts. Niwa’s science and advice then informs policy and decision-making,’’ the spokeswoman said.
Green Party oceans spokeswoman Eugenie Sage said there was increasing research that showed the noise from seabed mining affected marine mammals, and created damaging sediment plumes.
‘‘We don’t want seabed mining to start, because the oceans are under huge pressure from absorbing 90% of the heat from global warming, from increasing ocean acidification from carbon dioxide, from overfishing, from plastic pollution, they don’t need the additional pressure of seabed mining.
‘‘And it’s continuing that really exploitative approach to the oceans, rather than looking at how can we recover these precious metals from electronic waste, tonnes of which go to landfill each year.’’
She questioned whether Niwa was involved in the Government’s negotiations at the International Seabed Authority. This would amount to a ‘‘conflict of interest’’.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said the ministry had not discussed with Niwa its decision to assist the mining firm.
The spokesman said Niwa was not part of the New Zealand delegation to the ISA negotiations. A Niwa expert, Malcolm Clark, was a member of the ISA’s legal and technical commission.
The Government’s position was that, in international waters, ‘‘deep sea mining should not take place unless we can ensure the effective protection of the marine environment’’, the spokesman said.
The offices of Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Minister Ayesha Verrall, responsible for Crown Research Institutes, did not respond to a request for comment.