Several months ago, the members of ISA, the International Seabeds Authority based in Kingston (Jamaica), met to discuss the future of the world’s seabeds. The ISA is one of the three bodies set up in 1982 by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which manages the resources of the planet’s great seabeds. It has 167 member states, plus the European Union, but the USA is not among them. While the authority's previous annual meetings have gone largely unnoticed, this year the stakes were extremely high, mainly because of the environment.
The member states of ISA (International Seabeds Authority) are discussing whether or not to mine the world’s oceans for minerals - a dilemma that is primarily about the environment.
The main purpose of the meeting, held from 10-28 July, was to draw up regulations on the mining of mineral resources from the major seabeds. There have always been two sides to this debate: on the one hand, some countries consider these minerals essential to technological advancement, and that to mine them from the sea would cause less pollution than doing so on land. On the other hand, there are those who maintain that we do not yet know enough about deep-sea ecosystems and should avoid mining them until we are sure that no irreparable damage will be caused, as there may be implications for the entire natural cycle.
As yet, little is known about deep-sea ecosystems. It is even harder to predict how and to what extent they can be influenced by intensive mining. «Deep-sea mining for minerals cannot continue without the necessary - and as yet insufficient - scientific knowledge to regulate this activity. The consequences could be catastrophic for human and marine life» commented the Marine Officer of WWF Italia, Giulia Prato. According to the scientific community, we currently have just over one percent of the scientific knowledge needed to draft regulations on deep-sea mining, and we are still a very long way from fully understanding the environmental and economic risks of mining for minerals in the seabed.
The European Commission and the European Parliament along with seven EU Member States (Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Finland and Portugal) have pushed for an international moratorium on deep sea mining until such time as the gaps in scientific knowledge have been filled. The EU itself has invested more than 80 million euros in research into deep sea mining, and these projects have highlighted (among other things) that there is a lack of in-depth knowledge in this area.
France, in particular, despite having the second-largest marine space in the world, has declared its support for an extension on the moratorium, to delay new activities that might put the marine ecosystem at risk. Big names in tech and industry, including Google, Samsung, BMW and Volvo have also said that they will not use deep sea minerals in their products without solid regulation and the necessary guarantees for the environment. But some Member States have distanced themselves from the EU’s position. Belgium, for example, is working on a law to define the terms under which its government could sponsor deep sea mining by private companies. The countries that are entirely in favour of these activities include China, South Korea and Norway.
Norway, in particular, could become the first country in the world to mine for metals on the ocean bed: this autumn, the Norwegian Parliament will vote on whether to allocate 280,000 square kilometres of seabed - an area almost the size of Italy - to deep sea mining. While Norway believes that this type of mining is sustainable and responsible, environmentalists say that the green light from parliament could represent one of the worst environmental decisions ever taken by the Scandinavian country.
In 1982, after a debate lasting decades, the sea beds were defined a “common heritage” of humanity, although no precise rules were ever set. Today, what the nations of the world with their differing viewpoints are now asking themselves is whether this “common heritage” can be exploited (albeit using methods yet to be defined) for mineral mining or whether it should be protected, particularly at a time when the climate crisis is deepening.
At the summit in July, the ISA did not reach a conclusion. Talks will continue at the Authority’s next meetings.