The Greenpeace International Ecological Organization held a spectacular protest of the Bundestag building in Berlin, opposing the extraction of minerals at the bottom of the ocean. The occasion was the upcoming meeting of the International Body for the Sea (ISA), which started today in Jamaica.
15 activists and a giant inflatable figure of an octopus 10 meters long took part in the action. Participants launched posters calling for the German government: “Be a moratorium, stop deep -sea prey” and “Protect the depth of the ocean.”
The representative of Greenpeace Anna Saito said that “the German government should clearly declare its intention to stop the beginning of the booty on the seabed.” According to her, “a global moratorium is necessary to prevent irreversible environmental destruction.”
Saito emphasized that deep -sea production destroys vulnerable ecosystems, causes damage to the biodiversity and aggravates the climatic crisis. She also accused US President Donald Trump of attempts to put pressure on ISA and “go around international standards.”
Greenpeace insists that “you cannot allow pressure on international institutions” and that “the world needs a strong ISA and effective international cooperation to protect oceans.”
Germany has licenses for exploration of minerals in the Clarion-clipperton area in the northern Pacific, between Hawaii and Mexico. A plot of 75 thousand square kilometers is rich in manganese and comparable in size to the island of Mallorca.
In ISA meetings, which will last until July 26, 170 member states take part. This year, the Minister of Environmental Protection, Climate, Nature and Nuclear Safety Karsten Schneider presents Germany.