Speaking on a panel discussion on the Pacific Islands at the Impact Week conference in Singapore last Friday, the conservative politician acknowledged that deep-sea mining was controversial but said Cook Islands should be allowed to “make their own choices” and “have a right to their own future development”.
Deep-sea mining was thrust in the spotlight in May, when the United States controversially proposed to mine the seabed for transition minerals in American and international waters, a move that the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which governs the industry, said would breech international law.
Seabed mining faces opposition over potential irreversible ecological damage. Close to 1,000 marine scientists and policy experts from more than 70 countries have signed a statement calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, while 38 countries have made calls for precautionary pauses or bans on seafloor extraction. Rules for deep-sea extraction have not yet been agreed on by ISA member states.
“If I asked the people in this room, 99 per cent would not support seabed mining,” Morrison told his audience in Singapore. “But if you ask the Cook Islands, they want it. It’s a way for them to develop their sovereign wealth fund.”
“They care about the environment more than anyone. If we can support them on the science and monitoring, why shouldn’t they be able to develop those resources?” said Morrison.
“Let them make their own choices. They have right to their own development future and their ongoing sovereignty in terms of provision for future generations. Isn’t that the goal?” he said. Morrison was criticised by climate-vulnerable Pacific Islands nations during his time as premier for taking insufficient action to curb emissions.
The Cook Islands, which is made up of 15 islands and atolls and an economic zone that stretches across 1.9 million square kilometres of Pacific Ocean territory, entered talks with the US to explore seabed minerals exploration in August. The Cook Islands struck a strategic deep-sea mining partnership with China earlier in the year.
Since leaving office in 2022, the former leader of the Liberal Party nicknamed “ScoMo” has taken on numerous advisory roles, including a consulting position at Seafloor Minerals Fund (SMF), a US firm that aims to invest US$400 million in deep-sea mining, and venture capital firm DYNE, which has invested in experimental deep-sea mining projects in the Pacific.
DYNE was set up to support the strategic goals of AUKUS, the defence pact between Australia, the US and United Kingdom forged by the Morrison government in 2021.
Deep-sea mining continues to be a highly controversial topic, not only because of the potential environmental impacts, but because of issues of ownership and who should benefit from minerals such as cobalt, lithium and copper found in international waters.
The recently ratified United Nations High Seas Treaty, which is designed to protect marine life in the high seas from exploitation, has created uncertainties for deep-sea mining proponents ahead of the United Nations climate summit in New York, which takes place this week.
The treaty stresses a “precautionary” approach to human activities on the seabed and in international waters, and aims to create protected areas covering almost one-third of the world’s seas outside national boundaries.
