Oil and gas extraction is expected to be banned in six protected marine areas along Germany’s North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts, according to a draft law submitted by the German Ministry of Environment and approved by the German Cabinet in its weekly session today.

Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said, “Protecting marine nature and abandoning the use of fossil energy sources are incompatible with drilling operations for oil and gas extraction,” noting that the draft law still requires approval from the German parliament.

According to the federal government’s draft law, exploration and extraction of mineral resources there will be mainly limited to sand and gravel extraction, and oil and gas extraction will only be allowed in limited exceptional cases.

The environmental organization Greenpeace considers this project to be delayed and insufficient.

Greenpeace marine affairs expert Daniela von Schaper stated, “Porpoises, seabirds, and many other marine creatures need real refuge areas.”

She added, “As long as drilling, construction, or fishing are allowed in these protected areas, protection will not be effective.”

The ban does not include the gas extraction project planned by the Dutch company ONE-Dyas northwest of Borkum Island in the North Sea, as the gas field is entirely within the coastal waters of the state of Lower Saxony and thus is not affected by the exclusive economic zone ban, according to a spokesperson for the state’s Mining, Energy and Geology Authority. However, the ban may include other adjacent gas fields that the company plans to develop in the future.

It is worth noting that Germany’s exclusive economic zone, the marine area outside coastal waters, includes six protected areas covering about ten thousand square kilometers, including areas west of Sylt Island and in the Bay of Pomerania. Commercial fishing restrictions are already applied there.