In addition to putting the brakes on the rush to mine the deep sea, the statement signed by the companies also highlights the need to explore alternatives as a matter of urgency; reduce the demand for primary metals; develop responsible terrestrial mining practices, and transition to a closed-loop materials economy. 

Vulnerable ecosystems
The ocean and its ecosystems provide innumerable and important benefits for people and economies across the world, including food, livelihoods, income generation and climate regulation. However, the ocean is already heavily impacted from a multitude of stressors, such as climate change, overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction, acidification and noise.

Deep-sea ecosystems have experienced little disturbance from human activities up to now, and we know they are likely to have low levels of resilience. Given the slow pace of deep-sea processes, destroyed habitats are unlikely to recover within human timescales. Therefore, every human disturbance of these vulnerable ecosystems demands the highest precaution.

No place for an industry that harms the planet
Iris Lether, Investment Strategist, Triodos Investment Management, a subsidiary of Triodos Bank: “Triodos Bank’s mission is to make money work for positive social, environmental, and cultural change. In this time of unprecedented crisis relating to our natural world, Triodos Bank believes it is very important to implement a mortarium on deep-sea mining. There is no place for an industry that risks compromising the services to our planet that the deep ocean provides.”