On the 25th of November Greenpeace activists illegally boarded TMC’s research vessel, MV Coco, while scientists on board were busy at work, conducting research in the Pacific Ocean, and demanded a stop to that research. Link
Greenpeace’s move to stop research is not surprising to anyone who pays attention to the tactics of the environmental NGOs that protest against polymetallic nodule harvesting. While these groups often speak to the need for more research to gain a better understanding of the risks inherent in nodule harvesting, they don’t actually want research to be conducted.
To be perfectly clear, research is the enemy of Greenpeace and other NGOs that stand against nodule harvesting. Research is harmful to Greenpeace’s effort because each time new research on nodule harvesting impacts is published, it proves Greenpeace’s dire predictions about ocean destruction wrong. In fact, TMC recently presented data from their pilot harvesting program conducted in 2022 that confirmed the very limited area of benthic impact from the harvesting operation. Environmental groups had made claims that benthic plumes would extend hundreds of kilometers, but the empirical data indicated the plume largely resettled within 500 meters of the harvesting operation (and 1,000 meters at maximum). We have four decades of research on benthic impacts from harvesting which support the claim that nodule harvesting does far less damage than terrestrial mining, but Greenpeace ignores that research. TMC’s interrupted research campaign intended to gather more data on the harvesting operation from last year, and it would likely continue to point to the fact that nodule harvesting impacts are limited, so it is not at all surprising to see Greenpeace commandeer that research vessel and force it to stop working.
NGOs’ true intent in calling for more research is to destroy the nodule harvesting industry before it starts. Environmental NGOs suggest that a moratorium is required to allow time for research to be conducted, knowing full well that moratorium would cut funding to the industry and starve it of the capital needed to complete the research that NGOs require to lift the moratorium.
The actions of Greenpeace and other NGOs are not only duplicitous, they also cause great harm to the planet and to vulnerable people. Not only does a moratorium threaten to virtually end research on the abyssal plains, it also ensures that the world aggressively pursues the clear-cutting and strip mining of tropical rainforests throughout the Global South to meet battery mineral demands. The environmental and human costs associated with that course of action are far higher than those associated with nodule harvesting, as has been demonstrated in a number of lifecycle analyses.
The boarding of the TMC research vessel served another purpose. It was a publicity stunt designed to raise funding for Greenpeace. It is a shame that these groups are willing to sacrifice the wellness of the planet and of humanity in the name of paying their executives and employees more money, but that has become standard practice for many environmental NGOs.
TMC holds webcast and presents benthic plume data