Posts by Ann Samuels

The full title of this article by Emma Lewis (Global Voices) is “Caribbean art exhibit portrays the threatened beauty of the ocean as deep-sea mining negotiations come to an end in Jamaica.”

See excerpts belwo:

As the sometimes tense deliberations of the Council and the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) dragged on at the UN agency's headquarters, the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston, a vibrant art exhibit brought the subject of the negotiations to life: deep-sea mining, the mostly unexplored depths of the deep sea, and the threats it faces.

“Ocean Depths Unveiled: Preserving the Abyss” was organized by the Trinidad and Tobago-based Ecovybz Environmental Creatives in partnership with another youth-led organisation, Sustainable Oceans Alliance (SOA) Caribbean and funded by the Open Society Foundations. The exhibition celebrated the wonders of the deep sea, while sending a message that the planet's last and greatest wilderness (and carbon sink) must be protected and preserved.

The exhibition complemented the work of a tireless coalition of young people in Jamaica, in partnership with regional and international non-governmental organisations as well as indigenous Pacific Islanders. These “Deep Sea Minders” continue to campaign for a stop to destructive activity and have been raising awareness through traditional and social media in Jamaica. They have also protested on the hot, windy waterfront in downtown Kingston, opposite the conference centre. Pacific Islanders have also made their unique contributions to the debate, inside and outside the conference centre walls.

Discussions at the ISA, and the campaign itself, have been long and exhausting, and eventually closed with a partial victory for campaigners: the ISA had not been able to agree on or adopt rules for deep-sea mining and was under increasing pressure from a growing number of countries and environmental activists calling for a moratorium. However, as delegates trudged wearily back to their hotels on the evening of July 27, efforts to put the issue of a possible halt to deep-sea mining firmly on the agenda for discussion were stymied by China and Nauru.

I attended the opening of the art exhibition at a New Kingston hotel, along with a large audience of ISA delegates and activists. I chatted with a few artists and others involved in the evening's activities.