According to Mining News Pro - At COP27, French president Emmanuel Macron called for an international ban on deep-sea mining. That same week, French ambassador Olivier Guyonvarch formally proposed a ban during a council meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
“As the effects of climate change become increasingly threatening and the erosion of biodiversity continues to accelerate, today it does not seem reasonable to hastily launch a new project, that of deep seabed mining, the environmental impacts of which are not yet known and may be significant for such ancient ecosystems which have a very delicate equilibrium,” Guyonvarch said at the ISA meeting in Jamaica.
The French Government is just the latest to demand a moratorium on deep-sea mining. Germany, Spain, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Chile and others want to put a stop to the rush to the deep sea due to the lack of scientific research on the environmental impact mining could have.
In a statement published on 7 November, Greenpeace France said that it welcomes Macron’s announcement. The organisation has been actively campaigning against deep-sea mining since early 2021 when seabed mining gained momentum after Nauru, an island in Micronesia, triggered a clause that means ISA has to complete the regulations necessary to approve mining within two years.
Seabed mining tests are underway
Since its founding in 1994, the ISA has been obligated to “ensure the effective protection of the marine from harmful effects that may arise from deep-sea related activities”, but there are limits to its scope.
The ISA only has authority over international waters, but not territorial waters. Around 60% of the global seabed lies beyond national jurisdiction, according to non-profit The Pew Charitable Trusts.
What makes the current opposition of governments stand out is that many are members of the ISA council, the executive branch of the authority, meaning their objections could have an impact on waters not typically covered by the ISA.
Yet, so far, there are no sufficient regulations or guidelines in place for mining the seabed. Negotiations in August ended without any agreements, and with just a few months before the two-year deadline passes, mining could start without environmental regulations in place.
Nauru sponsored a subsidiary of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) to carry out deep seabed mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area that spans 4.5 million square kilometres in the Pacific Ocean. TMC intends to apply for an exploitation license in 2023, and if granted, would begin mining operations in late 2024.
In September, the ISA approved TMC to start a mining test. At the end of November, Greenpeace activists from Mexico and Aotearoa confronted the ship, the Hidden Gem, when it returned after the eight-week trial run. The ship carried back an estimated 4,500 tonnes of mineral-rich polymetallic nodules, according to shipping company Allseas, which called it a “record haul”.
“We are here today because deep sea mining threatens the health of the ocean and the lives and livelihoods of all who depend on it,” said James Hita, a campaigner from Aotearoa. “The ocean is home to over 50% of life on Earth and one of our biggest allies in fighting the climate crisis. We will not stand by while mining companies begin to plunder the seafloor for profit.”
Why the rush for deep-sea minerals?
The world has been scrambling to find the minerals necessary for the energy transition. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), “clean energy technologies are becoming the fastest-growing segment of demand” for critical minerals.
The organisation estimates that the clean energy sector’s demand for copper and rare earth elements will rise by more than 40% in the next two decades, more than 60% for nickel and cobalt and almost 90% for lithium. Production is struggling to keep up with the rising demand.
Most of those critical minerals, however, can be found in polymetallic nodules on the ocean floor – most notably copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese. These potato-shaped mineral concretions were first discovered during the voyage of the HMS Challenger in 1873 and contain high concentrations of several minerals, formed over millions of years. Because they lay on the ocean floor unattached, the process of collection can be relatively simple as it does not require large-scale drilling work.
According to the IEA, there are no signs of shortages when it comes to the amount of available resources. There are plenty of reserves for most minerals, with, for instance, 880 million tonnes of copper reserves on land and 95 million tonnes of nickel reserves, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).