On 1 December, 26 new EU Commissioners took office after being confirmed in late November. In a letter to five of the Commissioners, the DSCC and its members highlighted the priorities and opportunities for Ursula von der Leyen‘s second term.
With portfolios spanning climate, environment, fisheries and ocean, industry, and a clean and just transition, the five EU Commissioners addressed in the letter have an opportunity to play a central role in changing the way humans interact with nature.
In the letter, the DSCC and its members urge the Commission to promote, propose and support the protection of all seamounts and vulnerable marine ecosystems on the high seas at all deep-sea regional fisheries management organisations, including at the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean.
Reassured by the EU Commission’s commitment to prohibiting deep-sea mining until scientific gaps and uncertainties are addressed, the DSCC also calls on the new Commissioners to propose a prohibition on deep-sea mining in European waters and to take a leading role in ensuring that the EU and its member states promote and support the adoption of a precautionary moratorium or pause on deep-sea mining in international waters at the International Seabed Authority.
Read the full letter here, and visit our LinkedIn page to read our full blog on this recent development.