The IES has written to Lord de Mauley, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Resource Management, the Local Environment and Environmental Science to urge caution to be taken over the announcement that the Government has secured a licence and contract to explore a 58,000 sq kilometre area of the Pacific Ocean for mineral-rich polymetallic nodules.
The letter question whether we know enough about the marine environment to be certain that there will not be irrevocable ecological damage caused in the dash for underwater minerals and urge the government to reconsider these proposals as part of a wider review of resource management.
The letter was also undersigned by CIWEM and IFM.
