Avarua, Rarotonga, Holding a banner reading “Don’t Mine the Moana”  Cook Islands activists confronted an exploration vessel as it returned to Rarotonga port today, peacefully protesting the emerging threat of deep sea mining. 

Four activists in kayaks paddled alongside the Nautilus, which has spent the last three weeks on a US-funded research expedition visiting sites in the mineral exploration areas licensed by the Cook Islands authorities, who have consistently supported the development of deep sea mining.[1] Two of the three deep sea mining exploration licences in the Cook Islands’ waters are held by US companies.[2] 

This expedition comes just six months after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order tasking the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to fast track the licensing process for deep sea mining.[3] The research being conducted on the Nautilus is funded by NOAA’s Ocean Exploration Cooperation Institute.

In August, the US and Cook Islands governments announced their official partnership on developing seabed mineral resources. A senior official at the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority described this research vessel expedition as “a first step in our collaboration”.[4][5]

Campaigners against deep sea mining say this demonstrates that the political motive behind the Nautilus expedition is to advance seabed mining. 

Holding a banner reading “Don’t Mine the Moana”, Louisa Castledine, Cook Island Activist and Spokesperson, Ocean Ancestors collective said “Right now, global superpowers like the US are vying for control of deep sea minerals throughout the Pacific. We need to open our eyes to the threats imposed on us by the seabed mining industry and stop the corporate takeover of our ocean. Seabed mining will lead to the destruction of our home environments and put our Indigenous rights, cultural ways of living, and wellbeing at risk. As Indigenous Peoples and custodians of the ocean we say NO to seabed mining.”

Greenpeace Aotearoa is also campaigning to stop seabed mining before it starts.
Juressa Lee, Campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa said: “Greenpeace Aotearoa stands in solidarity with these Cook Islands activists, who peacefully protested today. Like many across the region, they want a Pacific blue line drawn against this destructive industry. Scientific discovery about the oceans must prioritise the wellbeing of all people, including future generations, not the interests of a few wannabe seabed miners. Pacific People will not be sidelined by corporations and powerful countries that try to impose this new form of extractive colonialism on the region.”

More than 940 leading marine science and policy experts from over 70 countries have voiced their concerns about deep sea mining and are calling for a precautionary pause on the start of deep sea mining to allow time to gather more scientific information on deep sea biodiversity and ecosystems.[6]

Resistance to deep sea mining across the Pacific is strong and growing. 40 countries have now joined the call for a pause or moratorium on deep-sea mining, including Pacific states such as Palau, Samoa, Vanuatu and Tuvalu. Antigua and Barbuda and Romania added their support today.

Seabed mining is an emerging destructive industry that has not started anywhere at commercial scale. If it goes ahead, mining within Cook Island waters could pave the way for mining throughout the Pacific.

ENDS

Photos available on the Greenpeace Media Library

Notes

[1] Nautilus

[2] The companies that do own licenses in the Cook Islands EEZ are: Moana Minerals (who are a subsidiary of a US company Ocean Minerals LLC (OML).), Cobalt (CIC) Limited and CIIC Seabed resources, which is a joint venture between Belgian GSR and the Cook Islands Investment Corp. 

[3] Donald Trump Executive Order

[4] Joint Statement on US-Cook Islands Cooperation on Seabed Mineral Resources

–https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/08/joint-statement-on-u-s-cook-islands-cooperation-on-seabed-mineral-resources

–https://www.pmoffice.gov.ck/2025/08/05/joint-statement-on-u-s-cook-islands-cooperation-on-seabed-mineral-resources/

[5] Senior official from the Cook Islands Seabed Mineral Authority

[6] Momentum for a Moratorium 

Contacts

Sol Gosetti, Media Coordinator for the Stop Deep Sea Mining campaign, Greenpeace International, +34664029407, sol.gosetti@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org 

São Paulo, Brazil – Less than a month before COP30 in Belém, Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA, has granted Petrobras a licence to explore oil in the Foz do Amazonas Basin.  The region is rich in marine biodiversity and home to a massive reef system of vital ecological importance for the Atlantic Ocean and for Indigenous, quilombola, and traditional communities that depend on the coastal Amazon for survival.

Mariana Andrade, Oceans Campaign Coordinator, Greenpeace Brazil said: “On the eve of COP30, Brazil puts on a green facade on the international stage, yet stains itself with oil at home. While the world looks to the Amazon for solutions to the climate crisis, we see IBAMA granting Petrobras permission to drill for oil in the very heart of the planet.”

Beyond the contradiction between Brazil’s climate discourse and the advance of a new oil frontier in the country, opening new oil wells goes against Brazil’s own commitments to an energy transition and merely reinforces exclusionary, unsustainable, and environmentally harmful patterns.

Andrade continued: “There is no possible energy transition when its foundation is destruction. The decision to open a new exploratory frontier at the mouth of the Amazon reveals a profit-driven logic that perpetuates inequality. Petrobras has the capacity to redirect its efforts toward a truly decarbonisation-focused strategy and to contribute coherently to the climate commitments Brazil has undertaken.”

Daniela Jerez, legal counsel, Greenpeace Brazil recalled that the controversial licensing process for Block 59 dragged on for over a decade and contains serious procedural flaws and said: “The license for Block 59 has severe procedural and substantive deficiencies, violating the Constitution, international treaties, and environmental law. By law, a licence can only be granted when there is clear evidence that the company is capable of preventing and responding to the risks involved — yet the emergency plans presented during the licensing process are insufficient and fail to demonstrate such capacity. Moreover, there was no adequate assessment of the impacts on Indigenous peoples, nor free, prior, and informed consultation. These flaws render the licence invalid and subject to judicial challenge.”

Oil exploration in this area poses a high risk of contamination from spills and chemical pollution, potentially compromising fragile ecosystems, public health, and the livelihoods of coastal communities. Such operations exacerbate social and environmental vulnerabilities in affected towns and regions.

In April 2024, the Amapá Institute for Scientific and Technological Research (IEPA), with support from Greenpeace Brazil, released a study showing that an oil spill in the region could reach Pan-Amazonian countries and the coasts of Amapá and Pará, causing devastating impacts on marine life and local populations.[1]

ENDS

Notes:

[1] Full Oil Spill report: Monitoramento das correntes de superfície da bacia da foz do Amazonas com o uso de derivadores.

Contacts:

Greenpeace International Press Desk: pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)

Warming up for the COP climate conference in Brazil, marching for peace and human rights in Mexico and Italy, and calling out a telecommunications company in Australia, here are a selection of images from our work around the globe in the past week.

Mexico – Greenpeace Mexico enthusiastically and joyfully joins the March for Climate, Life, and the Future in Mexico City, a call to defend life in all its forms. The placard in the image reads ‘Life is not for sale’.

Brazil – To demand stronger global forestry action from delegates gathered in Brasilia for the preparatory meetings for this year’s UN Climate Summit (COP30), Greenpeace Brazil carried out light projections from a building opposite the TV Tower, as members of the delegation attended a dinner inside the venue. The projection reads: ‘93% of Brazilians want more rainforest protection’.

Germany – Greenpeace Germany ocean campaigner Franziska Saalmann demonstrates a diving robot (ROV) used for undersea research at the Stralsund Maritime Museum.

Switzerland – Greenpeace Switzerland is touring the country with an oversized nuclear waste barrel. Visitors could write down their wishes and hang them on the barrel, learn about hydropower, solar energy, and wind power, and take part activities throughout the day.

Brazil – To demand stronger global forestry action from delegates gathered in Brasilia for the preparatory meetings for this year’s UN Climate Summit (COP30), Greenpeace Brazil projected messages onto the Congress building where delegates are meeting.

Italy – Greenpeace Italy participates in the Perugia-Assisi Peace march on Sunday, October 12, calling for an end to war and genocide and the defence of human rights and international law.

Australia – Australian telecommunications company Telstra’s climate credibility has been challenged at its AGM, as Greenpeace Australia Pacific, alongside climate and investment experts, called out the company for its silence while serving on the board of the board of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) — a vested interest group that has doubled-down on its support for new gas and lobbied against climate action.

Greenpeace has been a pioneer of photo activism for more than 50 years, and remains committed to bearing witness and exposing environmental injustice through the images we capture.

To see more Greenpeace photos and videos, visit our Media Library.

Brasilia, Brazil – Preparatory talks at the Pre-COP in Brasilia must now lead to ambitious forest and climate outcomes at the UN climate summit COP30 next month.

Ahead of COP30 in Belém, Greenpeace has proposed a forest action plan to end deforestation by 2030 and mitigation akin to a global response plan – as proposed by UN Secretary-General Guterres – to address the 1.5°C ambition gap in 2035 climate action plans.[1][2]

Carolina Pasquali, Executive Director, Greenpeace Brasil said: “Regardless of a very challenging international scenario, the Pre-COP had an important political engagement from parties and strong public demonstrations from civil society and the Indigenous movement, elevating hope and raising the bar for COP30 outcomes.” 

“We now need world leaders to listen to the voices of the people and deliver bold outcomes that will correct the path we are on. We are still waiting for a strong signal that this COP will deliver on closing the 1.5°C gap and on giving forests its due relevance in climate negotiations.”

Tracy Carty, Global Climate Politics Expert, Greenpeace International said: “2035 emissions targets are expected to fall drastically short of what’s needed and COP30 must face a hard truth: only a bold breakthrough such as a global response plan will cut it. COP30 must kick off a new phase of accelerated and transformative climate action – there is no time to waste.”

An Lambrechts, Global Biodiversity Politics Expert, Greenpeace International said: “COP30 is a critical juncture for global climate action and ending forest destruction is a crucial element of the 1.5°C solution. That’s why COP30 must deliver an action plan to end forest destruction by 2030 and there is no better moment than at a COP in the Amazon to do so.”

After the COP29 agreement on the new climate finance goal, the NCQG, one of the key issues discussed at the Pre-COP was the draft Baku to Belém Roadmap, which puts forward a plan for scaling up climate finance to US$1.3 trillion. Based on those discussions, however, it remains unclear whether COP30 will embrace the Roadmap recommendations in the COP outcome.

Rebecca Newsom, Global Political Lead, Greenpeace International Stop Drilling Start Paying campaign said: “COP30 must create an ongoing space to deliver the NCQG finance goal, in particular the scaling up of public finance by developed countries. COP30 can send a strong signal that it’s time to make polluters pay to close the climate finance gap fairly and fast.” 

“There’s no shortage of money or public support. What’s needed is political will to seize the huge opportunities of COP30 and the UN Tax Convention negotiations to unlock more finance for climate and social justice – both by making corporate polluters pay and taxing the super-rich.”

ENDS

Notes:

[1] For more details, read about the global response plan.

[2] For more details, read the COP30 forests briefing.

Contact:
Laís Modelli, Press Coordinator, Greenpeace Brasil, +55 14 98127 9058, imprensa.br@greenpeace.org 

Aaron Gray-Block, Climate Politics Communications Manager, Greenpeace International, aaron.gray-block@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org