Nauru’s President David Adeang declared in a speech to the United Nations that the international community must not let “fear and misinformation” block the exploitation of sea-bed minerals that could be critical to the global energy transition.
Adeang used Tuesday’s address to the UN General Assembly(UNGA) to warn about the perils of inaction on deep-sea mining, which proponents say will help provide the essential ingredients for new electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies.
“The greatest risk we face is not the potential environmental impacts of mineral recovery, but the risk of inaction,” he said. “There is a risk of failing to seize the opportunity to transform to renewable energy and to decarbonise our planet. We cannot let fear and misinformation hold us back.”
Adeang is the first of 12 Pacific leaders due to appear before the international body this week. The 79th session of the assembly is being held against a backdrop of several wars, growing geopolitical divisions and seemingly irreversible planet warming.
The Nauruan president opened and closed his speech with a call for sustainable use of resources on the ocean floor and issued a warning to “those who seek to block our efforts.”
“Do not dismiss the potential of deep sea minerals outright,” he said. “Do not ignore the science and the progress we have made. Instead, work with us to establish the robust regulations necessary for responsible mining.”
Nauru, a 21 square kilometer (8.1 square mile) island nation home to 10,000 people, is leading the push to kick start sea-bed mining in international waters that are administered by the U.N. affiliated International Seabed Authority, or ISA.
In conjunction with Nasdaq-listed The Metals Company, Nauru’s government has been pressing the ISA to approve mining before its 169 member nations agree on regulations for the industry.
Adeang said deep-sea mining was “not just an economic opportunity, [but] an environmental imperative” that could help meet the challenges of climate change.
Nauru’s position is supported by a small number of Pacific island nations, including Papua New Guinea where deep-sea mining exploration is underway in the Bismarck Sea, between New Ireland and New Britain.
But many are concerned that mining the potato-sized poly-metallic nodules on the seafloor could harm the environment and compromise the region’s moral authority when it comes to protection of the oceans.
Countries such as Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Palau say that more independent research needs to be conducted to ascertain the environmental consequences of mining.
While wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan are likely to headline discussions in New York this week, there will also be important talks on climate change and progress towards Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 targets to reduce poverty and protect the planet.
At a press conference on the margins of the general assembly, leaders from several Pacific islands nations were close to tears Tuesday as they pressed for a just transition to a low-carbon economy.
Lenora Qereqeretabua, Fiji’s deputy speaker of parliament and Assistant foreign Minister, said that wealthy fossil-fuel producing countries needed to take the lead and honor their climate commitments.
“For those of us whose homes, whose traditional lands, whose fisheries and whose stories are being inundated by seawater, this is our very existence,” she said, apologising for becoming emotional.
Tina Stege, the Marshall Islands special envoy for climate, said climate financing needed to be made more accessible and equitable. Most funding came in the form of loans to developing countries that were exacerbating debt, she said.
“That is directly relevant to the justice issue,” Stege said. “How is it that we are paying to solve a problem that we did not create? In doing so we are taking away from our capacity to develop; to do things like fund our schools and hospitals.”
The day before the general assembly began, leaders agreed on a “Pact for the Future,” a set of lofty commitments aimed at reinvigorating multilateralism and “turbocharging” implementation of development and climate goals.
The UN Security Council also convene for a session on the existential threat posed by rising sea levels.
Low-lying Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme weather events like cyclones, floods and marine heatwaves, which are projected to occur more frequently this century as a result of higher average global temperatures.
In the western Pacific, sea level rise is occurring at nearly twice the global rate, increasing approximately 10-15 cm between 1993-2023, according to a UN report released last month. In the central tropical Pacific, the sea level has risen approximately 5–10 cm over the same period.
Developed nations must recognise their historical responsibility for emissions and honor obligations under the Paris Agreement, Nauru’s Adeang said.