As India readies for the United Nations to give a green light to deep sea mining and boost its economy, the environmental group Greenpeace said on Wednesday that drilling the seabed could cause irreversible harm and worsen climate change.

Without proper governance of the seas, mining could remove entire habitats and species, release toxins and create pollution in areas that have been undisturbed for millennia, it said.

"Deep sea mining could cause severe and potentially irreversible environmental harm both at the mine sites and throughout broader ocean areas," Greenpeace said in a report.