Climate Politics
Explorer Victor Vescovo Says Deep Sea Mining Numbers Don’t Add Up
At a global meeting on seabed mining policy, the ocean adventurer and investor warned of “extraordinarily high” financial risks.
Victor Vescovo.
Photographer: Reeve Jolliffe/EYOS ExpeditionsThis article is for subscribers only.
As the International Seabed Authority (ISA) meets in Jamaica this week, deep sea explorer and private equity investor Victor Vescovo flew to Kingston on Monday to make the business case against mining the ocean for valuable metals.
“I didn’t come here because I’m a raving ocean environmentalist. I’m not,” Vescovo told Bloomberg Green at a side event hosted by environmental group WWF. “I’m first and foremost an industrial private equity guy. I did the math and deep sea mining just doesn’t work, as the risks are extraordinarily high.”