The Pacific Ocean, an immense and powerful force — dynamic, life-sustaining, and deeply complex.
“Ocean is vast, Oceania is expanding. Oceania is hospitable and generous, Oceania is humanity rising from the depths of brine and regions of fire deeper still, Oceania is us. We are the sea, we are the ocean, we must wake up to this ancient truth and together use it to overturn all hegemonic views that ultimately aim to confine us again, physically and psychologically, in the tiny spaces that we have resisted accepting as our sole appointed places and from which we have recently liberated ourselves. We must not allow anyone to belittle us again, and take away our freedom. – Hau’ofa, E. 1994. Our Sea of Islands”
And perhaps summarize what Colonialism, Capitalism, Climate Change, Nuclear testing and extractivism did to the Pacific and continues to do in the Pacific…..plain truths!
Facts about Deep Sea Mining: What It Means for the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is a source of life. It feeds us, connects us, and holds our stories. For generations, Pacific peoples have protected the Moana — not just for ourselves, but for the world.
But now, that ocean is under threat from a dangerous and unnecessary industry: deep sea mining.
Companies like The Metals Company (TMC) want to tear up the seafloor in search of minerals — and they’re targeting the Pacific as their testing ground. We can’t let that happen.
Here’s what you need to know about deep sea mining — and why we must stop it before it starts.
What is Deep Sea Mining?
Deep sea mining involves using giant machines to extract metals like cobalt and nickel from the ocean floor, often at depths of 4,000 to 6,000 metres. These metals are found in three main forms; Polymetallic nodules scattered across the seafloor, Polymetallic sulphides around hydrothermal vents, and Cobalt-rich crusts on underwater mountains called seamounts.
Mining companies say this is needed for the “green transition” — but that’s not true. We already have alternatives, and we can build better systems without destroying the deep sea.
This isn’t about saving the planet. It’s about profit.
What’s at Risk for the Pacific?
The deep sea is one of the most fragile and least understood ecosystems on Earth. Life there evolves slowly — some species live for hundreds or even thousands of years. We’re only just beginning to understand how it all works.
Tearing up the seabed could:
- Wipe out species before they’re even discovered
- Disrupt climate systems by interfering with carbon storage
- Spread toxic sediment that harms marine life across the ocean
- Risk to Pacific Food security
Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.
This Is About More Than the Environment
For Pacific peoples, the ocean is family. It holds our history, our culture, and our future. It’s not a resource to be exploited — it’s a sacred space to be protected.
Deep sea mining threatens to break that relationship. It’s not just environmental destruction — it’s cultural loss. It violates our right to protect the spaces our ancestors have cared for over generations for our future generations?
The recent discovery of “dark oxygen”—oxygen produced in the ocean’s depths without sunlight—has profound implications for our understanding of marine ecosystems. This phenomenon, identified in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, suggests that metallic nodules can generate oxygen through electrolysis, a process previously unknown in such environments. This revelation underscores the complexity and fragility of deep-sea habitats, highlighting the need for caution in any activities that could disrupt these delicate systems.
For Pacific communities, the ocean is not merely a resource but a sacred space integral to our identity and heritage. The potential impacts of deep-sea mining on these newly discovered processes and ecosystems could lead to irreversible cultural and environmental losses. Therefore, it is imperative that decisions regarding the ocean’s future prioritize the protection of its mysteries and the rights of those who have long revered its depths.
Who Really Benefits? (Hint: It’s Not the Pacific)
The deep sea mining industry says it will create opportunities for Pacific nations. But the truth is, companies like The Metals Company are using our leaders— cutting corners, ignoring science, and fast-tracking approvals without consent. They have not only exploited a loophole in international law by using Nauru to fast-track deep sea mining — they’ve also taken full advantage of the Trump administration’s disdain for multilateralism to push their agenda. By undermining global consensus and ignoring scientific warnings, TMC is attempting to mine the ocean floor without proper rules or regional consent.
This isn’t development; it’s a modern-day extraction scheme dressed up as opportunity. While U.S. politicians frame deep sea mining as a geopolitical strategy against China, the real cost will be borne by Pacific communities — yet again left out of decisions that directly affect their environment, their economies, and their future. We’ve been here before — from colonial resource grabs to nuclear testing — and we know who really benefits. It’s not the Pacific.
Deep sea mining is a nascent industry which threatens to destroy deep ocean habitats that we still know very little about. In parallel, Greenpeace International activists are in the Pacific Ocean where they have been carrying out a protest against The Metals Company for the past six days.
TMC used Nauru to trigger a controversial loophole at the International Seabed Authority (ISA), trying to rush into mining before global rules are even in place. That’s not partnership — it’s exploitation.
We know how this story goes. We’ve seen it with colonialism. With nuclear testing. With climate change.
We Need a Moratorium Now
A moratorium on deep sea mining would pause this dangerous industry before it causes irreversible harm. It’s our best chance to:
- Let science catch up
- Give communities a real say
- Protect the ocean for future generations and all humankind
Countries like Vanuatu, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu and Fiji have already taken a stand. We need more leaders — and everyday people — to rise up.
The Pacific is Not a Mining Zone
The ocean is not a profit-making playground for corporations. It’s a life force — and it belongs to all of us.
Deep sea mining is a destructive industry driven by reckless greed. But we still have time to stop it.
Together, we can protect our moana, honour the wisdom of Pacific guardians, and clearly say: No to deep sea mining in the Pacific — Not Now, Not Ever.
Join the Movement
Call on governments to back a global moratorium.
Stand in solidarity with Pacific communities leading the resistance.
[Sign the petition] to help protect our blue Pacific home.
The deep sea is not for sale. Let’s rise up to protect it — together.
Climate Change
‘This is a fossil fuel crisis’, Greenpeace tells Senate gas tax Inquiry, citing homegrown renewables as path to energy security
CANBERRA, Tuesday 21 April 2026 — Greenpeace Australia Pacific has slammed gas corporation war profiteering and environmental damage in a scathing Senate hearing today as part of the Select Committee on the Taxation of Gas Resources, urging fair taxation of gas corporations and the transition to secure, homegrown renewable energy to protect Australian households and the economy from future energy shocks.
Speaking at the hearing, Greenpeace said the US and Israel’s illegal war on Iran has laid bare the fundamental flaws of an energy system built on fossil fuel extraction, geopolitical power plays and corporate greed, and will be a defining moment for how the world thinks about energy security.
Greenpeace’s submission and full opening remarks can be found here.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“This is not an energy crisis, it’s a fossil fuel crisis. The crisis we’re all facing lays bare the dangers of fossil fuel dependence, for our energy security, our communities, and for global peace and stability.
“Gas corporations like Woodside, Santos, Shell and Chevron — the same companies whose CEOs refused to front this Inquiry — are making obscene war profits, using the illegal war on Iran to price gouge, profiteer and push for more gas we don’t need — while people and our environment pay the price.
“Australians are getting smashed by soaring bills and the impacts of climate disasters — gas corporations should be paying their fair share to help this country, instead of sending billions offshore, tax-free.
“But we’re at a turning point — while gas corporations cynically push to open up more of our oceans and land to drilling for fossil fuels, our allies like the UK are doubling down on renewables in response to the fossil fuel crisis. Our trading partners in Asia are making the same reassessment of fossil fuels.
“Which is why the hearing today is crucial: an effective and well-designed tax on the gas industry’s obscene war time profits is a chance to channel funds to people and communities, fast-track the rollout of clean, secure homegrown wind and solar energy, while holding polluters accountable.
“Our dependence on fossil fuels leave us overexposed to the whims of tyrants like Trump — it’s in Australia’s national interest to end the fossil fuel chokehold for good and usher in the era of clean energy security.”
-ENDS-
Media contact
Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
HOW WOODSIDE’S BROWSE GAS PROPOSAL THREATENS SCOTT REEF’S GREEN TURTLES AND PYGMY BLUE WHALES
Woodside’s Browse to NWS gas project is under assessment by the WA and Federal Governments right now. This is a project that involved drilling up to 50 gas wells around Scott Reef off the coast of WA. Gas would be extracted directly underneath Scott Reef and Sandy Islet and pumped through a 900-kilometre subsea pipeline to the NWS gas processing facility.
Woodside’s Browse gas project’s impact on Scott Reef’s marine habitats?
Scott Reef is one of Australia’s most ecologically significant marine environments, where green turtles breed, pygmy blue whales feed, and an array of at-risk species, including sharks, dolphins, whale sharks, rays, sawfish and sea snakes thrive. It is home to many threatened species, including some found nowhere else on Earth or in genetically isolated groups, magnifying its importance from a conservation perspective.
This delicate reef’s ecosystem faces multiple threats if Woodside’s Proposed Project goes ahead, including seismic blasting, gas flaring, noise pollution, artificial lighting, pipe laying and fast-moving vessels. The reef also faces the risk of a gas well blowout, which could have catastrophic and irreversible consequences for the region’s reefs and marine parks.
Woodside’s woeful marine impacts management plan
To secure their approvals, Woodside had to develop a plan for how they would manage the significant risks to threatened green turtles and endangered pygmy blue whales if the project proceeds. We’ve had two independent scientists provide a technical assessment of Woodsides management plan for whales and turtles and their findings are gobsmacking.
Their assessment found that Woodsides management plans for these species misrepresents or does not assess the risks the Browse project poses to Scott Reef’s pygmy blue whales and green turtles. They’ve also surmised that if the project goes ahead the impacts contradict the Australian government’s own recovery plan for turtles and Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Blue Whales.
The State and Federal Governments now have the opportunity to define their legacies on nature protection and save Scott Reef from Woodside’s dirty gas.
Technical Assessment of Woodside’s Browse Pygmy Blue Whale Management Plan
Prepared for Greenpeace Australia Pacific by Dr Ben Fitzpatrick of Oceanwise Australia with Dr Olaf Meynecke of Griffith University.
The full technical assessment is available HERE
Scott Reef is a vital feeding, foraging and resting habitat for pygmy blue whales.
Pygmy blue whales feed, forage and rest in the Scott Reef region every year. Scott Reef is recognised as a Biologically Important Area for the pygmy blue whale and is an important stop-over on their annual migration.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could delay or prevent the population recovery of the endangered pygmy blue whales that rely on Scott Reef, heightening their extinction risk.
- Woodside’s management plan claims of “no credible threat of significant impacts” are not supported by scientific evidence.
- The management plan relies on outdated whale population information.
- Woodside has claimed it is unclear whether Scott Reef is a foraging habitat for pygmy blue whales, despite the presence of pygmy blue whales and significant concentrations of krill being documented in the area.
- The PBWMP ignores the impacts of industrial noise on whale-to-whale communication. This is especially concerning as mother-calf pairs migrate through the Scott Reef Biologically Important Area shortly after calves are born. Mother-calf pairs rely on continuous, uninterrupted communications to maintain their connection.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could delay or prevent the population recovery of the endangered pygmy blue whales that rely on Scott Reef, heightening their extinction risk.
Technical Assessment of Woodside’s Browse Turtle Management Plan
Prepared for Greenpeace Australia Pacific by Dr Ben Fitzpatrick of Oceanwise Australia.
The full technical assessment is available HERE
Scott Reef is a vital nesting ground for unique green turtles.
The green turtles that nest at Scott Reef’s low-lying Sandy Islet sand cay and nearby Browse Island are genetically unique and are classified as ‘Extremely Vulnerable’ in Australia’s Recovery Plan for Marine Turtles.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could make Scott Reef’s unique green turtles extinct.
- The Browse project would operate within 20 kilometres of nesting habitat that’s critical to the survival of Scott Reef’s genetically unique and vulnerable green turtle population.
- Woodside’s Browse Turtle Management Plan (TMP) misrepresents the risks the Browse project poses to Scott Reef’s green turtles.
- Claims in Woodside’s TMP about Scott Reef’s green turtle population size, nesting success and hatchling numbers are not backed by scientific evidence.
- The TMP proposes gathering updated data after the Browse project is approved.
- Woodside’s TMP proposes adding sand sourced elsewhere to Sandy Islet to counter subsidence and erosion, but fails to properly assess the associated risks.
To save Scott Reef and protect our oceans and animals, the State and Federal Governments must reject Browse.
Technical Assessment of Woodside’s Browse Pygmy Blue Whale Management Plan
To secure their approvals, Woodside had to develop a plan for how they would manage the significant risks to threatened green turtles if the project proceeds. We’ve had two independent scientists provide a technical assessment of Woodside’s management plan for whales and turtles and their findings are gobsmacking.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could make Scott Reef’s unique green turtles extinct.
Woodside’s Browse gas project could delay or prevent the population recovery of the endangered pygmy blue whales that rely on Scott Reef, heightening their extinction risk.
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