---
title: "Deep Sea-Mining: An Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres for World Oceans Day 2024"
description: On World Oceans Day 2024, SOA calls on UN Secretary-General Guterres in an open letter to support a moratorium on deep-sea mining and ban bottom trawling.
---

[Sustainable Ocean Alliance Blog](https://legacy.soalliance.org/soablog)

# [Deep Sea-Mining: An Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres for World Oceans Day 2024](https://legacy.soalliance.org/soablog/dscc-letter-wod24)

 Written by [SOA Team](https://legacy.soalliance.org/soablog/author/soa-team) | Jun 7, 2024 2:00:00 PM

On [UN World Oceans Day 2024](https://unworldoceansday.org/), Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) joined our partners at [Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition](https://deep-sea-conservation.org/) (DSCC) to urge [UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres](https://www.un.org/sg/en), through an open letter, to secure the deep sea’s health for future generations.

The open letter, written and signed by DSCC alongside [120+ coalition members and partners](https://deep-sea-conservation.org/about/members/), calls on Gutteres to support all UN member States to: 

- Highlight that the **protection of the deep sea is a necessary and effective measure toward ending the ocean and planetary emergency.**
- **Enact a precautionary moratorium or pause on deep-sea mining** to allow for sufficient science and understanding of the deep ocean and the impacts of deep-sea mining on the marine environment.
- Protect vulnerable marine ecosystems by **withdrawing their vessels from bottom impact fishing on seamounts**. By protecting seamounts and other vulnerable marine ecosystems, we protect the whole ocean.

Read the full open letter [here](https://legacy.soalliance.org/hubfs/World-Ocean-Day-open-letter-UNSG-2024-FINAL.pdf?hsLang=en).

 

### **Take Action for the Deep Sea**

Want to support our efforts from wherever you are in the world? Here is how YOU can take action to prevent deep-sea mining:

**FOLLOW US**

Add your voice to SOA's calls to #DefendTheDeep across social media by resharing our posts and following us on [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-ocean-alliance), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/soalliance/), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@soalliance?lang=en), and [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@soalliance). 

JOIN THE ALLIANCE

Take your digital advocacy a step further by joining SOA's online community platform, The Alliance! Learn from and connect with a diverse group of like-minded individuals—all working towards the common goal of preserving the health of our ocean. Make a free profile [here](https://bit.ly/soa-alliance) and start interacting with members today.  

**SIGN PETITIONS**

- Sign SOA’s [Petition Against Deep-Sea Mining](http://only.one/act/mining), in partnership with [The Oxygen Project](https://www.theoxygenproject.com/), [Only One](https://only.one/), and [Deep Sea Conservation Coalition](https://savethehighseas.org/).
- Sign the [Indigenous-Led Petition](https://www.blueclimateinitiative.org/say-no-to-deep-sea-mining) Against Deep-Sea Mining with [Blue Climate Initiative](https://www.blueclimateinitiative.org/).
- Sign these regional petitions for the [U.S.](https://www.change.org/p/u-s-say-no-to-deep-sea-mining?cs_tk=AjjNu1ImsGPaTvJH-2UAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvObARzp6C4HTZI7XBmtwuvg%3D&utm_campaign=e1e5374a1dca4c6ea36952ed9ef36cff&utm_content=initial_v0_4_1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_signer_receipt&utm_te), [Norway](https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/deep_sea_mining_norway_lea/?fbclid=PAAaa26oQH0NJznEtn3ZsDjXaMj2osEfW-Thq8me8Urnv_PmenwnYhKbkXKto_aem_AcGuts6rdVBOtvPqukTj0-vgvDfr2sTp6sKIKSRMDTgkBCnWbb-LtJm-5kQ7dwcpr4o), [Colombia](https://chng.it/WWCp55dRkq), and [Argentina](https://www.change.org/p/argentina-decile-no-a-la-miner%C3%ADa-submarina-protejamos-los-fondos-marinos?recruiter=1311824029&recruited_by_id=087f66e0-1c07-11ee-a730-d5e49d6bc378&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard).

**CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES** 

Encourage your government and representatives to oppose the industry. More than a dozen exploration contracts issued by ISA are held by these countries: China, India, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. Contact your official representative [here](https://defendthedeep.org/).

<https://deep-sea-conservation.org/solutions/no-deep-sea-mining/momentum-for-a-moratorium/>

 

[View full post](https://legacy.soalliance.org/soablog/dscc-letter-wod24)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "SOA Team"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2024-06-14T21:26:34.319Z",
  "datePublished" : "2024-06-07T14:00:00Z",
  "headline" : "Deep Sea-Mining: An Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres for World Oceans Day 2024",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 1440,
    "url" : "https://5867638.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5867638/6.14.24.png",
    "width" : 2560
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://legacy.soalliance.org/soablog/dscc-letter-wod24",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "SOA Blog"
  }
}
```