Together we can stop deep-sea mining

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Thanks to your support, 2025 has been a landmark year for the ocean.

We are thrilled to share that the High Seas Treaty is on the brink of becoming law. With 60 ratifications now secured, the treaty will officially enter into force in January 2026. This is the first global legal framework dedicated to protecting marine biodiversity in the vast waters beyond national borders. Among others, this treaty enables the creation of marine protected areas on the High Seas. It is a historic moment and a powerful reminder that collective action works.

The High Seas cover nearly half our planet and face increasing pressure from climate change, overfishing, pollution and the emerging threat of deep-sea mining. Until now, life in these waters has been largely unprotected. The treaty fills this long-standing governance gap and opens a new chapter for global cooperation. We celebrate the decades of effort by negotiators, scientists, advocates and communities who made this achievement possible. The High Seas belong to all of us, and their future depends on all of us.

Yet even as we celebrate, the fight continues. Deep-sea mining remains a major threat. The good news is momentum continues to build to stave off this threat: forty countries now call for a moratorium, including the most recent supporters, Romania and Antigua and Barbuda. As Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda said, “No one should mortgage the ocean floor to pay short-term bills.” As we write this report, Norway, a country leading the charge to open its own waters to mining, just announced that they are putting any deep-sea mining plans on hold. Testimony that our collective work around the world is working. This growing global action shows what is possible when people, businesses and scientists speak up for the ocean. 

In June, at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), we delivered our ‘Say No to Deep-Sea Mining’ petition, now close to 350,000 signatures, along with our Deep-Sea Mining Declaration, endorsed by 170 organisations, businesses, cultural institutions and fishers’ associations, to the Secretary General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). During UNOC, we also spoke on several panels about deep-sea mining and gender equality in ocean governance.

Shortly after, as an official observer to the ISA, we delivered our first intervention at the Assembly, making us the first organisation ever to denounce deep-sea mining as ecocide in that forum. We also spoke about the High Seas and the threat of deep-sea mining during London Climate Week, at an event hosted by Volans and The Crown Estate at the iconic Somerset House.

In October, we joined the High Seas Alliance meeting in Bangkok, where partners discussed next steps for wider treaty ratification and preparations for the first High Seas Conference of Parties, COP1. The Treaty’s recognition with the Earthshot Prize in the Revive Our Oceans category highlights a shared global commitment to safeguarding the blue corridors that sustain life on Earth. HRH Prince William described the Earthshot Prize as “the most prestigious global environmental Prize there has ever been.”

Another highlight this year was meeting music legend Brian Eno in November in my hometown of The Hague. As an ambassador of The Ocean and Us, he has been a long-standing supporter of our mission to protect the ocean from deep-sea mining. We explored ways to combine art, creativity and advocacy to amplify ocean protection worldwide.

Our next project will bring together science, art, and citizen action like never before to protect marine life. The next wave of ocean victories is coming, and with your support, we can make it happen.

Thank you for standing with us to protect our ocean.

Farah Obaidullah,
Ocean Advocate, Founder of The Ocean and Us, Women4Oceans, Editor of The Ocean and Us

Links:

• Say NO to Deep-Sea Mining Petition
• Deep-Sea Mining Declaration
• The Ocean and Us