UNOC3: Official handover of the 'Say NO to Deep-Sea Mining' Petition and the 'Deep-Sea Mining Declaration'

Nearly 350,000 Citizens and 160+ Organisations Demand a Moratorium on Deep-Sea Mining at the UN Ocean Conference

At the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, The Ocean and Us made your voices impossible to ignore. On Wednesday 11 June, our founder and director Farah Obaidullah met with Madam Leticia Carvalho, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), to formally hand over two powerful expressions of civil society’s growing resistance to deep-sea mining:

The Deep-Sea Mining Declaration
A bold call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, this declaration reflects the collective voice of civil society committed to defending one of Earth’s most fragile and least understood ecosystems.
So far, 162 organisations from 30 countries have signed on — spanning the arts, science, business, sport, education, women-led groups, fisheries associations, and environmental organisations. This global alliance is united by a shared message:
“The deep sea is not ours to destroy.”

The Say No to Deep-Sea Mining Petition
Signed by nearly 350,000 individuals across the world — and still growing — this petition is proof that people everywhere are calling for a halt to deep-sea mining before it begins.

“Given the dire state of our living world on which we all depend, we simply cannot afford to open up the global ocean to deep-sea mining. Global resistance — from concerned citizens around the world and across sectors — is clear. We must pause and protect our shared heritage.”
— Farah Obaidullah, Founder & Director, The Ocean and Us

We delivered these materials as a clear, constructive contribution to the international dialogue on how we govern the ocean’s common heritage. And we delivered them with urgency — because the deep ocean cannot speak for itself.

We are calling on the ISA and its Member States to listen. To take this growing wave of public and organisational concern seriously. To act with transparency, precaution, and intergenerational responsibility.

“The High Seas represent one of the last truly wild spaces on Earth — a shared heritage of all humanity and all beings, now and in the future. Yet we’re in a moment of crisis. Over two-thirds of global wildlife is already gone. The climate emergency is accelerating this loss, destabilising the natural systems that sustain us — including the deep ocean, which regulates climate, captures carbon, and supports planetary life.
If allowed to proceed, deep-sea mining will cause irreversible damage, release carbon stored over millennia, and undermine the ocean’s resilience just when we need it most. Now more than ever, we must protect what belongs to us all. The ocean is not a resource to exploit. It is a living system to respect, restore, and defend.”
— Farah Obaidullah, Founder & Director, The Ocean and Us

The ISA Chief Executive thanked The Oceans and Us for sharing the Declaration and explained that her “position is that the best way to protect the ocean is to have rigorous regulations.” She noted the organisation’s focus on supporting women in ocean action and explained that she is using the term, Madam Secretary-General, “to highlight the importance, and rarity, of women at the helm of ocean leadership.”

​Download the Press Release (English)

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