A growing number of governments, scientists and organizations are raising concerns about the potential harm that deep-sea mining would cause to ocean health and are urging caution before opening one of Earth’s most pristine and fragile frontiers to a new extractive industry.
These concerns rose to the forefront during this summer’s meetings of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a United Nations-affiliated body tasked with overseeing seabed mining activities in international waters. At the meetings of the ISA’s Council and Assembly in Kingston, Jamaica, five more countries—Austria, Guatemala, Honduras, Malta, and Tuvalu—committed to a precautionary pause or moratorium on large-scale, commercial deep-sea mining; with the announcements, 32 countries have now taken such a stand in the past two years.
Separately, a groundbreaking study published in July that was conducted in the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone, one of the main target areas for seabed mining, found that oxygen is being produced in the deep sea without sunlight through a process involving polymetallic nodules—the same materials miners want to extract from that area and other parts of the ocean.
This so-called “dark oxygen” discovery emphasizes the importance of furthering independent deep-sea scientific research throughout the globe to inform decision-making and underscores the need for a more cautious and science-based approach to these extractive activities.
The 36 member States of the Council, the executive arm of the ISA, continued their years-long negotiations of draft deep-seabed mining regulations to cover exploitation activities—draft regulations that have numerous gaps. These include lack of agreement on environmental baseline data requirements, what constitutes permissible environmental harm, compliance and enforcement mechanisms, how to address underwater cultural heritage, and insurance and liability requirements.
The Council also acknowledged that it has yet to consider a significant number of standards and guidelines that cover important details governing topics such as environmental impact assessments, emergency response and contingency plans, and toxic substances. These measures are as important (and potentially as contentious) as the main regulations but, unlike those main rules, contain details that may be amended over time. Regardless, most of these standards must be adopted alongside the main regulations for the mining code to be considered complete. Further, the Council agreed not to convene this November, meaning its target of completing these negotiations by 2025 is at best far-fetched.
The Assembly, the ISA’s supreme body, which includes all 168 member States, met to tackle numerous issues—including electing a new Secretary General. In a significant development, the Assembly elected Leticia Carvalho, a Brazilian oceanographer and international civil servant. Many hope that Carvalho’s scientific and regulatory background and her campaign promises of transparency, accountability and engagement with stakeholders means that she will work on behalf of all member States—including those calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining—and will elevate marine protection in the seabed mining debate.
The Assembly meeting drew unprecedented attendance—heads of state, ministers, and observers that included newly accredited Indigenous representatives who presented their concerns about impacts to the marine environment through a powerful storytelling side event.
A group of nine States—Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Ireland, Palau, Switzerland and Vanuatu—proposed a discussion of a general policy to protect the marine environment. Over 35 countries—such as Australia, Morocco and Panama, to name a few—rallied in support of the proposal, noting that a general policy would provide a cohesive and robust framework for decision-making when it comes to ocean governance, including coordination with processes surrounding both the new U.N. high seas treaty and “30 by 30,” a global movement to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030.
Although ISA member governments did not reach consensus on this proposal, the ongoing discussions and increasing number of interested countries show growing support for the Assembly to take a more active role in ensuring the protection of the marine environment from mining impacts.
There was also no agreement from the Assembly on conducting a general systematic review of the ISA. The Assembly is currently two years behind in meeting its legal obligation—as mandated by Article 154 of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the international treaty that created the ISA—to conduct a periodic review of the organization's operations to further strengthen transparency and accountability—and thus “lead to the improvement of the operation of the regime.” As the ISA will make significant decisions impacting the long-term health of the ocean and the collective well-being of humankind, a thorough and independent review involving a range of stakeholders is essential and the right step forward.
After three weeks, the Council and Assembly meetings concluded without agreement on the draft regulations but with a promising new leader in place.
Even as public interest in the future of the deep seabed grows and an increasing number of voices call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, there is still much to learn about this unique and slow-to-recover ecosystem. What experts do know is that deep-sea mining poses a serious threat to the ocean and would cause irreversible damage to the marine environment and, as such, requires the ISA to proceed with the utmost precaution. Anything less risks the ISA, and its member States, undermining its explicit obligations under UNCLOS and the numerous biodiversity and climate commitments that require the organization to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment for current and future generations.
Julian Jackson leads the seabed mining work for The Pew Charitable Trusts’ ocean governance project.