Exploring the Deep-Seas and the Risk of Mining
ELC Ocean Team, Xander Deanhardt and Kendall Fowler
The deep-sea is a region full of biodiversity. Scientifically defined as the area of the Ocean 200 meters or deeper, the deep-sea is now at risk of exploitation from mining. In June 2021, the island nation, the Republic of Nauru, invoked a two-year rule under the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the United Nations body that oversees mining. This action pressures the ISA to complete regulations so that commercial mining of the seabed, a process where machines scour the seafloor for rare minerals, could begin as early as mid-2023. Consequently, if applications from industries wanting to mine the seafloor are submitted, this two-year rule means they could be considered by the ISA even without final guidelines in place to protect the marine environment.
Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017.
This issue however is not one solely of industry versus environmental proponents. The mineral modules present on the deep-sea floor are rare minerals argued as necessary for the construction of electric vehicle batteries. Some argue that in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and transition the global economy to more sustainable transportation, mining of the deep-sea is required. However, more studies are emerging showing that deep sea minerals will not be necessary by 2050 and car manufacturers such as Volkswagen and BMW, have voiced they will not be using these minerals in their supply chain.
How is DSM being regulated?
The ISA was established under the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) and has a mandate to regulate and control all mineral related activities in the international seabed and subsoil, known as the “Area” and outside the jurisdiction of any single nation. The ISA is responsible for creating regulations to guide decision making in the Area. Under the ISA’s mandate from the UN, it must act on behalf of all mankind and take necessary measures to ensure effective protection of the marine environment. The ISA has allowed regulated exploration of the Area, facilitating scientific research to guide a better understanding of the deep-sea environment, and has been developing regulations for exploitation for a few years. In September 2022, the ISA announced that the company, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI, a Republic of Nauru national), was given permission to “test-mine” in the Clarion Clipperton Zone. NORI is projected to remove 3,600 tonnes of polymetallic nodules (the equivalent of the weight of approximately 35,000 blue whales) by the end of 2022.
UNCLOS states that if a nation alerts the ISA that it has the intent to start exploitation of the Area, a two-year deadline is triggered, giving the ISA two-years to complete regulations for exploitation before applications for mining can be submitted. The Republic of Nauru sent a request to the ISA in June of 2021 and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the complexity of the issue, the regulations are not near completion despite the deadline of the two-year trigger occurring in the summer of 2023. If the regulations are not complete by the July 2023 deadline, contractors could start to submit plans of work for mining the deep-seabed and permits may be issued based on only provisional exploitation regulations.
Why is deep sea mining an important issue?
The Ocean is the lifesource of our planet, providing half of the oxygen we breathe, sequestering carbon dioxide and mitigating climate change, and providing jobs, food and livelihood for millions of people. The deep sea has flourished for millenia, supporting some of the most biodiverse and scientifically important ecosystems on Earth, and is vital to the overall health and functioning of the Ocean. Many deep-sea organisms have long life cycles, for example there are sponges found to be 10,000 years old! Little is known regarding deep-sea ecosystems and mining impacts to the deep-sea and Ocean as a whole. However, novel research analyzing the potential harms of mining suggests devastating effects. In fact, initial studies have indicated that the effects of deep-seabed mining on the seafloor could persist for hundreds of years. Other projections suggest that each individual mining operation may disturb between 300 and 800 square kilometers per year, with impacts spreading over an area two to five times larger due to sediment being kicked up by mining machinery. An additional harm would be the noise produced by a deep-sea mine. Studies have estimated that a single deep-sea mine’s noise could travel approximately 500 kilometers, causing disturbances and confusion for several deep-sea creatures.
As noted by the Pacific Blue Line Initiative and others, for millennia, communities and peoples worldwide have revered the Ocean as a living being, and as an ancestor or kin, with whom we have responsibilities to respect and care for. In fact, the Hawaiian creation chant, or Kumulipo, explains how life began from the first organism, a coral polyp found in the deep sea, and is the extension of our genealogy.
Additionally, over 90% of Pacific people rely on the Ocean for their livelihood. Negative impacts on fish in or near the area will be felt by those inhabiting coastal communities. A report by the Deep Sea Mining Campaign and MiningWatch Canada stated that DSM would have negative repercussions for Pacific Islanders, specifically, it would have negative impacts on local fishers which are a main source of wealth, food security, and employment for many in the Pacific. DSM will therefore result in environmental degradation and destruction of livelihoods and habitats across the Pacific and world.
Image credit: Amanda Dillon, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011914117
What can you do?
While some countries and industries push to mine for the minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries from the seafloor, the future of deep-sea mining is still uncertain, and there are many parties trying to shape its future. Several countries, NGOs, marine scientists and policy experts are calling for a moratorium, or ban, on deep-sea mining, citing the unknown extent of harm that deep-sea mining could cause to marine and coastal environments and species. Additionally, several member nations of the ISA as well as NGOs are exploring alternative legal options to halt the possibility of mining contracts receiving conditional approval this year in the absence of completed and adopted exploitation regulations. Many arguments are grounded in the idea that the ISA is mandated to protect the marine environment, and the limited information known about mining the deep-seabed indicates possible irreparable damage and widespread effects. The next meeting of the ISA Council is Starting Now, (in March 2023) make sure your voice is heard, such as signing a petition below or writing to your countries delegates.
Call on your government to add its voice and support a global ban or precautionary pause on DSM.
Click the following link to add your name to the official letter to stop deep-sea mining. Signatures from the letter will be delivered to United Nations and International Seabed Authority representatives.
Support and share the Pacific Blue Line Initiative and Indigenous petition against DSM.
Additionally, watch and share Deep Rising, a new documentary that draws attention to the impacts deep-sea mining would have on the environment as well as other well made educational videos, including this one from Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and learn more!
What about the Rights of Nature?
ELC is exploring how alternative legal pathways may support the global call to stop DSM before it starts. Rights of Nature recognizes Nature as a living being with inherent rights, with the underlying philosophy and ethic that all beings have rights and intrinsic worth merely for existing. Over thirty countries have embraced the Rights of Nature through constitutional amendments, national law, judicial decisions, treaty agreements, local law, or resolutions. Scientific evidence that deep-sea mining will likely harm if not completely devastated marine environments and species runs completely contrary to Rights of Nature, which is now recognized as an integral part to the implementation of the recent global agreement for biodiversity, known as the Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework. More to come in a second blog on this critical issue, but for now, watch this short video clip discussing the importance of shifting the focus away from the right to use the Earth’s natural resources and toward a Rights of Nature approach.
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Image courtesy of the NOAA Ocean Exploration, Exploring Deep-sea Habitats off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.