By Karen Graham
Published July 12, 2023
The photo was taken on March 8, 2019, with the cameras of the ROV KIEL 6000 during expedition SO268 on the seafloor of the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The expedition was part of the JPIO MiningImpact project. It is investigating the impact that potential manganese nodule mining in the deep sea would have on ecosystems there. The image shows "nodule frames" for a recolonization experiment. Source - ROV-Team/GEOMAR, CC SA 4.0.
Canada, Ireland, and Switzerland have all recently joined calls by nearly 20 countries for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
They join scientists, environmental organizations, fishing industry groups, and even car manufacturers that have raised concerns over the environmental impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. However, proponents say the practice is a relatively less destructive new source of materials critical for the energy transition.
Back in February, the Canadian government said it would not authorize deep-sea mining in domestic waters because of concerns it does not have a legal framework in place to issue permits.
Susanna Fuller, the vice-president of conservation and projects at environmental nonprofit Oceans North says: “Canada is a big mining country. And because one of the large players, the Metals Company, is registered here, even though it doesn’t have an office in Canada, it feels important to see Canada’s opposition; they are genuinely seen as a middle ground,” reports The Guardian.
“The fact that Canada has now joined calls for a moratorium is quite important.” Canada’s intervention comes as some regulations around the practice are near agreement.
The Metals Company, with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a Canadian-registered company looking for valuable minerals for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage at the bottom of the ocean.
Exploration licenses are now available
The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the quasi-UN body in charge of possible regulations, is meeting this week in Kingston, Jamaica, after a 9 July deadline to develop rules and regulations governing mining in international waters passed without a clear framework.
According to ISA Secretary-General Michael Lodge, it is likely we will see some form of agreement on the rules around how deep-sea mining is policed during the current ISA session which lasts two weeks.
“With regards to inspection and enforcement, most inspections—for what I see—will rely on a system of modern technologies (including) remote sensing, autonomous underwater vehicles,” Lodge said.
Lodge added that there has been “a lot of progress on that particular issue,” and that a working group which has been headed up by Norway is “something close to a deal.” (By the way – Norway recently opened the door to deep-sea mining).
The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) opened the meetings of Part II of its 28th session on Monday, 10 July 2023. The Council will be meeting for ten days until 21 July 2023.
In the meantime, companies can now apply for provisional mining licenses, and while the ISA has already issued 30 licenses for exploration only, no provisional commercial licenses have been approved. The 36-member council will debate the issue on Friday.
While there is an expectation that rules on inspection and enforcement will be agreed in July, people familiar with the matter say that a full mining code won’t likely be established until the October ISA meeting.
Sticking points include royalties, environmental standards, and benefits sharing, which are still far from being agreed upon, they said.
In June, the European Academies Science Advisory Council warned of the “dire consequences” for marine ecosystems if plans for deep-sea mining went ahead. Experts have concerns about sediment plumes, noise, vibration, and light pollution as well as possible spills of fuels and other chemicals used in the mining process.
But it all comes down to what Susanna Fuller points out so succinctly: With all the successes we’ve had with international agreements like the Biodiversity Agreement, “we’re also seeing we can’t continue to exploit new environments and meet our obligations around biodiversity protection.”
In the meantime, companies can now apply for provisional mining licenses, and while the ISA has already issued 30 licenses for exploration only, no provisional commercial licenses have been approved. The 36-member council will debate the issue on Friday.
While there is an expectation that rules on inspection and enforcement will be agreed in July, people familiar with the matter say that a full mining code won’t likely be established until the October ISA meeting.
Sticking points include royalties, environmental standards, and benefits sharing, which are still far from being agreed upon, they said.
In June, the European Academies Science Advisory Council warned of the “dire consequences” for marine ecosystems if plans for deep-sea mining went ahead. Experts have concerns about sediment plumes, noise, vibration, and light pollution as well as possible spills of fuels and other chemicals used in the mining process.
But it all comes down to what Susanna Fuller points out so succinctly: With all the successes we’ve had with international agreements like the Biodiversity Agreement, “we’re also seeing we can’t continue to exploit new environments and meet our obligations around biodiversity protection.”
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