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The 18 presidents and prime ministers of the forum all want sustainable development. But how do you develop when you have so few resources as the Cook Islands do? The islands, which are closest to French Polynesia, have been letting a mining company explore their funds for three years in the hope of mining.
“We began to gather a lot of data and knowledge. The result of these efforts was the creation of the Pacific Center of Excellence in Marine Science” Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown explained.
“Tonga is exploring deep-sea natural resources and we will respect the rules set by international authorities for the development of marine resources” Tonga’s Prime Minister Sovalenei promised not to say anything more.
Other islands, on the other hand, refuse to endanger their oceans. They believe that current research does not allow extraction without consequences. “At the moment we are just taking a precautionary approach: we hope to have more complete information, especially about the scientific aspects and environmental impacts of deep-sea mining operations” said Feleti Teo, Prime Minister of Tuvalu.
“We recently discovered that these famous polymetallic nodules, which we thought were ultimately inert, produce oxygen, which we call black oxygen. When we know that one-half of the oxygen comes from the ocean, we still have to ask ourselves questions and no longer want to play the sorcerer’s apprentice. Polynesia has been a testing ground for 30 years and it will not become a testing ground again for destroying the ocean floor” added French Polynesia President Moété Blazeson.
Papua New Guinea was burned by a mining project that cost a fortune and gained nothing. Now the country most convinced of the potential of nodules is Nauru, one of the poorest countries in the region. It must be said that after phosphate mining destroyed the island and then set up immigrant camps for Australia, Nauru has nothing to lose, not even its reputation. Its former chairman, Baron Waqa, managed to rise to the prestigious position of Secretary General of the Forum. The Nauru delegation includes lobbyists from Metals, one of the main mining companies.
“We’ve spent about $515 million. And that money didn’t come from Nauru, it didn’t come from Tonga. The benefit to the countries we’re helping is that they’re going to benefit from the economic benefits, the taxes when the exploitation starts, the training and the jobs. So it’s a real economic and industrial opportunity that gives hope for the future.” Gerard Barron, managing director of mining company Metals Company, is delighted.
These mining companies claim that the earth needs these resources, and their scientific studies show that the extraction of these resources has little impact on the ocean. However, famous oceanographer Sylvia Earle believes otherwise: “I’ve been down to the depths. I’ve also looked at the images brought back by people who have gone down to the deepest point, 11 kilometers below the surface. It’s much deeper than we want to recover resources from.. This is the story of life on Earth. We have a choice. Do we really want to do this for the money, even if it’s illusory? There’s no evidence that any of this is real, and maybe it’s just stories. This might be a way to encourage people to invest, but they won’t get a return on their investment. This is the destruction of the Earth.”
Oceania leaders know this, and it is difficult for them to reach a common position because opinions and needs are so different. But it is difficult for them to demand emissions cuts from the most developed countries if the islands themselves are not exemplary in terms of the environment. The ocean has no borders: development in the Cook Islands, for example, could affect the seafloor and marine life outside its exclusive economic zone.
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