It’s Deadline Day for Deep-Sea Mining
The International Seabed Authority had until this weekend to finish drafting exploitation regulations for deep-sea mining. They’re not done. So now what happens?
Two years ago, the Republic of Nauru, a small island nation in the South Pacific, put the world on course for the beginning of a new industry: deep-sea mining in international waters. Nauru triggered a clause forcing the International Seabed Authority (ISA)—the body that governs the seabed in international waters—to finalize the Mining Code, the rules that will dictate where and how countries and companies can mine the deep sea. That two-year timeline runs out this weekend, on July 9. Despite the looming deadline, the ISA is far from finishing its task.
“I don’t see any chance that the regulations will be ready for adoption in July,” says Pradeep Singh, an expert on the law of the sea at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany.
The tight deadline and slow development of the Mining Code’s exploitation regulations have put the world in a potentially tricky bind. Once the two-year deadline passes, the ISA is on the hook to consider mining bids under whatever existing draft regulations it has in place.
Efforts to finish the exploitation regulations by the deadline have been mired by an array of difficult issues ranging from how mining could affect marine ecosystems, to how, exactly, the profits of deep-sea mining will be distributed to benefit all of humankind. That last is a requirement mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which gives the ISA its authority.
Earlier this year, the ISA—at Germany’s request—set up a scientific working group to determine thresholds for acceptable environmental risk. Deep-sea mining will generate plumes of sediment on the seabed and in the water column that could affect marine life. But scientists’ understanding of how these plumes could impair marine ecosystems is clouded by uncertainty, making the task of developing thresholds significantly harder.
Along with concerns around sediment plumes, the ISA is also looking to establish limits for other environmental hazards, such as noise pollution, which can affect how animals including dolphins and whales communicate and navigate in deeper water. Another top concern is toxicity. Recent research suggests that the objects of deep-sea miners’ desire—small rocks containing cobalt, manganese, nickel, and copper—are radioactive and pose substantial health risks to people. While there is some research in progress, not much is known about how this could affect marine organisms.
Part of the ISA’s mandate is to protect the marine environment. But with so many uncertainties and scientific gaps, ISA member states are struggling to define acceptable limits to environmental harm.
“Right now, we don’t have any environmental thresholds, which are important to understand when mining might cause serious harm to the environment,” says Jesse van der Grient, a deep-sea biologist at the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute.
With so much still left to negotiate, and the likelihood that the exploitation regulations will not be finalized in time, ISA member states are now being forced to consider what to do if a mining application comes in before the rules are finished. A group of four nations led by Chile has put forward a proposal to reject all mining applications until the rules are complete. There is also a chance that the ISA might appeal to the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea for an advisory opinion on the consequences of missing the two-year deadline. These options will likely be the focus of the ISA’s upcoming meeting in Jamaica.
According to Singh, however, Nauru may have good reasons to want to wait before moving ahead with its bid. Nauru’s quest to mine the deep sea is being made in concert with Nauru Ocean Resources, a company that is wholly owned by Vancouver, British Columbia–based the Metals Company. Along with setting thresholds for environmental harm, the Mining Code will also define the liability of a sponsoring state like Nauru in the event that something goes wrong. If Nauru were to apply for a mining license with an unfinished Mining Code, Singh says, it would not be very wise.
“If you put in a [mining] application without the regulations, you’re basically doing so without protection,” he says. “Why would you sign a blank check to expose yourself to liability?”
As the ISA scrambles to finish the Mining Code, 15 countries—including Canada, France, Fiji, Micronesia, and, most recently, Switzerland—have also issued statements against deep-sea mining in international waters.
Two years ago, the Republic of Nauru, a small island nation in the South Pacific, put the world on course for the beginning of a new industry: deep-sea mining in international waters. Nauru triggered a clause forcing the International Seabed Authority (ISA)—the body that governs the seabed in international waters—to finalize the Mining Code, the rules that will dictate where and how countries and companies can mine the deep sea. That two-year timeline runs out this weekend, on July 9. Despite the looming deadline, the ISA is far from finishing its task.
“I don’t see any chance that the regulations will be ready for adoption in July,” says Pradeep Singh, an expert on the law of the sea at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany.
The tight deadline and slow development of the Mining Code’s exploitation regulations have put the world in a potentially tricky bind. Once the two-year deadline passes, the ISA is on the hook to consider mining bids under whatever existing draft regulations it has in place.
Efforts to finish the exploitation regulations by the deadline have been mired by an array of difficult issues ranging from how mining could affect marine ecosystems, to how, exactly, the profits of deep-sea mining will be distributed to benefit all of humankind. That last is a requirement mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which gives the ISA its authority.
Earlier this year, the ISA—at Germany’s request—set up a scientific working group to determine thresholds for acceptable environmental risk. Deep-sea mining will generate plumes of sediment on the seabed and in the water column that could affect marine life. But scientists’ understanding of how these plumes could impair marine ecosystems is clouded by uncertainty, making the task of developing thresholds significantly harder.
Along with concerns around sediment plumes, the ISA is also looking to establish limits for other environmental hazards, such as noise pollution, which can affect how animals including dolphins and whales communicate and navigate in deeper water. Another top concern is toxicity. Recent research suggests that the objects of deep-sea miners’ desire—small rocks containing cobalt, manganese, nickel, and copper—are radioactive and pose substantial health risks to people. While there is some research in progress, not much is known about how this could affect marine organisms.
Part of the ISA’s mandate is to protect the marine environment. But with so many uncertainties and scientific gaps, ISA member states are struggling to define acceptable limits to environmental harm.
“Right now, we don’t have any environmental thresholds, which are important to understand when mining might cause serious harm to the environment,” says Jesse van der Grient, a deep-sea biologist at the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute.
With so much still left to negotiate, and the likelihood that the exploitation regulations will not be finalized in time, ISA member states are now being forced to consider what to do if a mining application comes in before the rules are finished. A group of four nations led by Chile has put forward a proposal to reject all mining applications until the rules are complete. There is also a chance that the ISA might appeal to the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea for an advisory opinion on the consequences of missing the two-year deadline. These options will likely be the focus of the ISA’s upcoming meeting in Jamaica.
According to Singh, however, Nauru may have good reasons to want to wait before moving ahead with its bid. Nauru’s quest to mine the deep sea is being made in concert with Nauru Ocean Resources, a company that is wholly owned by Vancouver, British Columbia–based the Metals Company. Along with setting thresholds for environmental harm, the Mining Code will also define the liability of a sponsoring state like Nauru in the event that something goes wrong. If Nauru were to apply for a mining license with an unfinished Mining Code, Singh says, it would not be very wise.
“If you put in a [mining] application without the regulations, you’re basically doing so without protection,” he says. “Why would you sign a blank check to expose yourself to liability?”
As the ISA scrambles to finish the Mining Code, 15 countries—including Canada, France, Fiji, Micronesia, and, most recently, Switzerland—have also issued statements against deep-sea mining in international waters.
Earth's final frontier: the global race to exploit deep sea minerals • FRANCE 24 English
Jul 7, 2023Today's FOCUS takes us into the depths of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Many of the minerals used in our day-to-day electronic devices can be found on the seabeds, and the global race to exploit them has already begun. However, scientists fear that this will result in long-lasting environmental damage, with major losses for the biodiversity of the world's oceans. A report from our colleagues at France 2 with FRANCE 24's Guillaume Gougeon.
Deep-sea metal rush in doubt as regulatory body meets
Reuters | July 7, 2023 |
Image: The Metals Company
Plans to extract minerals from the ocean floor are expected to be put on hold next week at a meeting of the UN body regulating the sector, with environmental and economic risks threatening to scupper the industry before it begins.
Environmental groups expect next week’s meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica, to rule out any immediate permission for mining to begin. Countries will also discuss a moratorium later in the month to ensure projects do not go ahead without safeguards.
Mining companies say the ocean floor is potentially rich in metals like nickel and cobalt used in batteries for electric vehicles, so their extraction will support the global energy transition.
Any permitting delay will hurt the prospects of Canada’s The Metals Company (TMC), which has led efforts to exploit seabed minerals in the Pacific. The company was not immediately available to comment.
Environmental groups warn that the use of heavy machinery to extract “polymetallic nodules” from ocean floors could cause irreparable damage to marine ecosystems, destroying habitats, churning up sediment and disrupting migratory routes.
TMC says that while deep-sea mining will have some ecological impact, it would be less damaging than land-based extraction.
At the heart of the discussions is a loophole known as the “two-year rule”, which says the ISA council must “consider and provisionally approve” applications two years after they are submitted, even though it has yet to finalize related regulations. The Pacific island of Nauru, TMC’s sponsoring state, triggered the loophole in July 2021.
Nauru has indicated it would submit a “plan of work” to the ISA’s technical committee this year but the committee is not expected to formally recommend approval, said Sian Owen of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, a non-government environmental group.
“This is a reflection of the growing momentum, globally and also within the ISA Council, of a move towards a pause,” she told a briefing. Germany, New Zealand and Switzerland have called for a moratorium, while France supports an outright ban.
ISA is responsible for exploration in sea areas beyond national jurisdictions, and its decisions will not prevent countries from digging for minerals in their own territorial waters. Norway recently announced plans to open up 280,000 square kilometres (108,000 square miles) to exploration.
Beyond the environmental impact, soaring costs and uncertain economic returns could also turn off investors.
“The fact is no one has ever mined the sea floor in any major commercial capacity,” said Victor Vescovo, an investor and deep-sea explorer who will attend the meeting.
“I think they would end up being stopped not by environmental concerns, not even by political pressure, but by the weight of the financial risk and poor performance that would happen at those incredibly difficult operating depths.”
(By David Stanway, Melanie Burton and Clara Denina; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Underwater mining of high seas inches closer, worrying environmentalists
08 Jul 2023
UNITED NATIONS: Governments will soon likely be able to apply for deep sea mining contracts in international waters, a plunge into the unknown that is worrying conservationists as calls for a moratorium on such digging grow.
States have for ten years been negotiating a mining code to set rules for the possible exploitation of nickel, cobalt and copper in deep seabed areas that fall outside of national jurisdictions.
But agreement has so far been elusive, and on Sunday a clause is set to expire that allows governments to apply for contracts while negotiations continue.
"I think it's a very real possibility that we see an application submitted this year," Emma Wilson of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition told AFP.
"So it's crucial for states to be bold and implement the necessary measures to protect our ocean," she said, adding that the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is entering "the most critical decision-making period in the history of its existence".
The ISA was established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is responsible for protecting the seabed in the high seas as well as regulating activities related to coveted minerals.
Presently, the Jamaica-based body only grants exploration permits for these areas, which the UN convention classifies as "the common heritage of mankind."
In the summer of 2021, the small Pacific island state of Nauru threw a spanner into the works of the decade-long negotiations for the mining code by triggering a clause demanding that agreement be reached within two years.
With that timeframe now up, if Nauru were to apply for a contract for Naura Ocean Resources (Nori), a subsidiary of Canadian firm The Metals Company, then ISA would have to consider the request - but may not necessarily give the green light.
The Nauru authorities have given assurances that they will not act immediately, but other companies sponsoring states' underwater mining ventures could take advantage of the opportunity, experts say.
"I'm not too concerned," Pradeep Singh, a laws of the sea expert at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany, told AFP.
"I think it would be a mistake to submit an application anytime soon, seeing that states are still negotiating and working towards completing the regulation.
"The indication is quite clear that states are very reluctant and hesitant to allow mining to commence without regulations," he added.
"QUESTION OF CREDIBALITY"
In March, the 36 member states of the ISA Council, the decision-making body on contracts, noted that commercial exploitation "should not be carried out" until the mining code was in place.
But they were unable to agree on the process for examining a possible application, or on the precise interpretation of the clause triggered by Nauru.
NGOs fearing that companies may exploit the legal vacuum hope that the Council will make a much clearer decision when it meets in Kingston from Jul 10 to Jul 21.
Meanwhile, Chile, France, Palau and Vanuatu have chosen to take the debate to the political level.
At their request, and for the first time, the assembly of ISA's 167 member states will discuss a "precautionary pause" in mining when it meets between Jul 24 and Jul 28.
"The aim is to put the issue on the table, to have a debate that has never taken place before", French Secretary of State for the Sea Herve Berville told AFP, hoping that this will "encourage other countries to follow suit."
The coalition supporting the moratorium, although gaining ground, currently comprises just under 20 countries.
"The aim is that by 2024, it will be clear to a majority of countries that a precautionary pause in the exploitation of the seabed is the right thing to do if we are to meet the challenges of climate change and biodiversity," Berville added.
He insists it's a "question of credibility" at a time when the world has just adopted the first treaty to protect the high seas and has set itself the target of preserving 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030.
NGOs and scientists say that deep sea mining could destroy habitats and species that may still be unknown but are potentially vital to ecosystems.
They also say it risks disrupting the ocean's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide emitted by human activities, and that its noise interferes with the communication of species such as whales.
"We have the opportunity to anticipate this new extractive industry and stop it before it can do any damage to our planet," said Louisa Casson of Greenpeace.
Source: AFP
Image: The Metals Company
Plans to extract minerals from the ocean floor are expected to be put on hold next week at a meeting of the UN body regulating the sector, with environmental and economic risks threatening to scupper the industry before it begins.
Environmental groups expect next week’s meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica, to rule out any immediate permission for mining to begin. Countries will also discuss a moratorium later in the month to ensure projects do not go ahead without safeguards.
Mining companies say the ocean floor is potentially rich in metals like nickel and cobalt used in batteries for electric vehicles, so their extraction will support the global energy transition.
Any permitting delay will hurt the prospects of Canada’s The Metals Company (TMC), which has led efforts to exploit seabed minerals in the Pacific. The company was not immediately available to comment.
Environmental groups warn that the use of heavy machinery to extract “polymetallic nodules” from ocean floors could cause irreparable damage to marine ecosystems, destroying habitats, churning up sediment and disrupting migratory routes.
TMC says that while deep-sea mining will have some ecological impact, it would be less damaging than land-based extraction.
At the heart of the discussions is a loophole known as the “two-year rule”, which says the ISA council must “consider and provisionally approve” applications two years after they are submitted, even though it has yet to finalize related regulations. The Pacific island of Nauru, TMC’s sponsoring state, triggered the loophole in July 2021.
Nauru has indicated it would submit a “plan of work” to the ISA’s technical committee this year but the committee is not expected to formally recommend approval, said Sian Owen of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, a non-government environmental group.
“This is a reflection of the growing momentum, globally and also within the ISA Council, of a move towards a pause,” she told a briefing. Germany, New Zealand and Switzerland have called for a moratorium, while France supports an outright ban.
ISA is responsible for exploration in sea areas beyond national jurisdictions, and its decisions will not prevent countries from digging for minerals in their own territorial waters. Norway recently announced plans to open up 280,000 square kilometres (108,000 square miles) to exploration.
Beyond the environmental impact, soaring costs and uncertain economic returns could also turn off investors.
“The fact is no one has ever mined the sea floor in any major commercial capacity,” said Victor Vescovo, an investor and deep-sea explorer who will attend the meeting.
“I think they would end up being stopped not by environmental concerns, not even by political pressure, but by the weight of the financial risk and poor performance that would happen at those incredibly difficult operating depths.”
(By David Stanway, Melanie Burton and Clara Denina; Editing by Robert Birsel)
08 Jul 2023
UNITED NATIONS: Governments will soon likely be able to apply for deep sea mining contracts in international waters, a plunge into the unknown that is worrying conservationists as calls for a moratorium on such digging grow.
States have for ten years been negotiating a mining code to set rules for the possible exploitation of nickel, cobalt and copper in deep seabed areas that fall outside of national jurisdictions.
But agreement has so far been elusive, and on Sunday a clause is set to expire that allows governments to apply for contracts while negotiations continue.
"I think it's a very real possibility that we see an application submitted this year," Emma Wilson of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition told AFP.
"So it's crucial for states to be bold and implement the necessary measures to protect our ocean," she said, adding that the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is entering "the most critical decision-making period in the history of its existence".
The ISA was established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is responsible for protecting the seabed in the high seas as well as regulating activities related to coveted minerals.
Presently, the Jamaica-based body only grants exploration permits for these areas, which the UN convention classifies as "the common heritage of mankind."
In the summer of 2021, the small Pacific island state of Nauru threw a spanner into the works of the decade-long negotiations for the mining code by triggering a clause demanding that agreement be reached within two years.
With that timeframe now up, if Nauru were to apply for a contract for Naura Ocean Resources (Nori), a subsidiary of Canadian firm The Metals Company, then ISA would have to consider the request - but may not necessarily give the green light.
The Nauru authorities have given assurances that they will not act immediately, but other companies sponsoring states' underwater mining ventures could take advantage of the opportunity, experts say.
"I'm not too concerned," Pradeep Singh, a laws of the sea expert at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany, told AFP.
"I think it would be a mistake to submit an application anytime soon, seeing that states are still negotiating and working towards completing the regulation.
"The indication is quite clear that states are very reluctant and hesitant to allow mining to commence without regulations," he added.
"QUESTION OF CREDIBALITY"
In March, the 36 member states of the ISA Council, the decision-making body on contracts, noted that commercial exploitation "should not be carried out" until the mining code was in place.
But they were unable to agree on the process for examining a possible application, or on the precise interpretation of the clause triggered by Nauru.
NGOs fearing that companies may exploit the legal vacuum hope that the Council will make a much clearer decision when it meets in Kingston from Jul 10 to Jul 21.
Meanwhile, Chile, France, Palau and Vanuatu have chosen to take the debate to the political level.
At their request, and for the first time, the assembly of ISA's 167 member states will discuss a "precautionary pause" in mining when it meets between Jul 24 and Jul 28.
"The aim is to put the issue on the table, to have a debate that has never taken place before", French Secretary of State for the Sea Herve Berville told AFP, hoping that this will "encourage other countries to follow suit."
The coalition supporting the moratorium, although gaining ground, currently comprises just under 20 countries.
"The aim is that by 2024, it will be clear to a majority of countries that a precautionary pause in the exploitation of the seabed is the right thing to do if we are to meet the challenges of climate change and biodiversity," Berville added.
He insists it's a "question of credibility" at a time when the world has just adopted the first treaty to protect the high seas and has set itself the target of preserving 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030.
NGOs and scientists say that deep sea mining could destroy habitats and species that may still be unknown but are potentially vital to ecosystems.
They also say it risks disrupting the ocean's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide emitted by human activities, and that its noise interferes with the communication of species such as whales.
"We have the opportunity to anticipate this new extractive industry and stop it before it can do any damage to our planet," said Louisa Casson of Greenpeace.
Source: AFP
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