New Zealand's Silence Surrounding Deep Sea Mining w/ James Hita: July 4, 2022

In a dramatic shift at the United Nations oceans conference in Lisbon this week, a series of Pacific Governments have formed an alliance to oppose deep sea mining in international waters but Greenpeace says the continued silence from the New Zealand Government on the issue is deafening.

To standing ovations, a series of Pacific nations including Fiji and Samoa joined an alliance opposing deep sea mining announced by Palau on Monday. Adding to the momentum, the following day, Tuvalu, Tonga, and Guam announced their support for a halt to deep sea mining and France is now also calling for a legal and robust framework to ban deep sea mining in the high seas. But to date, the New Zealand Government has not formed a position on the issue.

Joe spoke to James Hita, part of the Deep Seabed and Mining Campaign at Greenpeace Aotearoa on the matter.