FCOSS Flags Legal Loopholes Following Deep-Sea Mining Report Findings

Suva, Fiji –-- Significant gaps in Fiji’s legislative framework regarding deep sea mining (DSM) have been flagged in a Monash University report commissioned by the Fiji Council of Social Services late last year.

FCOSS executive director, Vani Catanasiga while presenting a summary of the university’s Law Chamber Climate Justice Clinic’s Deep Sea Mining: A Legislative and Policy Review report at the Pacific Blue Line (PBL) Regional meeting in Suva last week, raised concerns about its potential environmental, socio-economic, and cultural impacts.

Catanasiga, underscored the importance of protecting Fiji’s marine ecosystems, coastal and indigenous communities from unregulated DSM activities at the PBL Regional meeting convened by the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG).

“The report makes it clear that while there is currently no DSM in Fiji, legal loopholes could allow its approval in the future,” said Catanasiga. “We must act now to ensure that our laws reflect the Melanesian Spearhead Group’s 2023 Udaune Declaration’s intent and that community voices drive decision-making.”

The report identified several key findings:

• That despite announcements by the government supporting a 10 year moratorium as far back as 2020, Fiji lacks a legally enforceable moratorium on DSM, and existing legal frameworks do not explicitly prohibit it.
• Current legislation, including the Mining Act 1965 and the International Seabed Mineral Management Act 2013, allows for DSM exploration licenses but does not regulate or prevent potential exploitation.
• DSM could negatively impact indigenous communities, whose cultural and spiritual ties to the ocean are recognized under domestic and international law.
• Several Pacific nations, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, have allowed DSM exploration despite signing the Udaune Declaration on Climate Change at the MSG Leaders Summit in August 2023.

FCOSS called for urgent legal reforms to strengthen protections against DSM and ensure compliance with international obligations such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at the gathering.

“As FCOSS, we will be pushing for a legally binding ban on DSM in Fiji’s waters,” added Catanasiga.

“This means amending key laws such as the Environment Management Act, iTaukei Affairs Act, and Fisheries Act to explicitly prohibit DSM and preserve our ocean for future generations.”

Meanwhile, Pacific Conference of Churches general secretary, Rev James Bhagwan will feature in the Pacific Ocean Guardianship: Kastom Knowledge and Practices Talanoa tonight at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva.

The PANG-organised Talanoa is taking place on the sidelines of the first High Level Dialogue on Deep Sea Mining in Suva.

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