The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has failed to agree on the idea of a moratorium on the exploration and mining of the ocean floor, a subject that divides the countries negotiating for a treaty intended to regulate this controversial new industrial sector denounced by scientists and environmentalists.
The IAEA may be a relatively unknown organization within the UN, but it is more than ever at the heart of a growing debate that pits two visions of the future of the planet’s oceans against each other: one advocating the protection of the seabed and one providing for the exploitation of the coveted minerals found there, particularly in the name of the energy transition.
A new chapter has just been written in the last few days, as part of the 29e negotiating session of 168 member states in Kingston, Jamaica.
For the first time, countries that are calling for a “precautionary pause” or even a “moratorium” on this industrial development with unknown environmental impacts have managed to put on the agenda a debate on the possibility of putting the brakes on mining projects already in preparation.
This was initiated by Chile, a country in favour of a “pause”. But its draft decision launching a “dialogue” towards the “development of a general policy […] on the protection and preservation of the marine environment” did not come to fruition, despite a week of negotiations that ended on Friday.
Many delegations, from China to Saudi Arabia to the Africa group, denounced the lack of clarity in the text, and considered that the assembly of AIFM member countries was not the place for this type of decision, judging that the responsibility should fall to the “Council”, which has only 36 states.
Faced with this opposition, Chile finally withdrew its proposal at the very end of the assembly meeting, which traditionally decides by consensus. However, the country promised to return to the charge next year, while the bloc opposing the start of exploitation now includes 32 countries, including Canada, France, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Spain and Sweden.
The Canadian government announced last year that it would not allow mining in the seabed of its national oceans without a “rigorous regulatory framework.” When it comes to international waters, Ottawa “supports a moratorium on commercial mining.” But the Trudeau government is not calling for an outright ban.
Opposition
The countries calling for a “pause” are supported by several scientists specializing in oceans and biodiversity, but also by environmental groups campaigning for the protection of these “fragile” and often little-known ecosystems, due to their distance from the coast and the great depth of the coveted areas.
The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, which brings together 115 organisations, has also welcomed the progress of the bloc of countries which refuse to give the green light to mining projects, following the AIFM assembly.
“Seabed mining is neither necessary nor desired. We need to transition away from this linear economy and toward a circular economy that respects the planet’s limits,” World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) spokesperson Jessica Battle said in a written statement.
Marine biologist Diva Amon of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory highlighted the glaring lack of knowledge about the ocean floor, recalling a study published in July in the renowned magazine NatureThis reports the discovery of a spontaneous chemical reaction that creates oxygen in the seabed, without life being involved.
The unexpected discovery challenges the long-held consensus that it takes photosynthetic organisms to produce the oxygen we need to breathe. And it was made in precisely the region of the Pacific Ocean where companies want to extract minerals.
Experts from the Deep Ecosystems Study Unit of the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea have also already warned of the potential repercussions of this industry: destruction of habitats, plumes of particles, noise, vibrations, recirculation of sediments and toxic compounds that could travel very long distances, etc.
A first project?
Although the debate over the relevance of launching humanity into a new phase of exploitation of planetary resources continues, the AIFM has already granted more than thirty exploration “contracts” valid for 15 years with different companies. These permits are found in the international waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
However, a vast region of the Pacific located to the west of Mexico is particularly coveted: the Clarion-Clipperton zone. Permits for more than 1.2 million km2 are active there, owned by 16 different developers. More than 20 billion tons of polymetallic nodules, which contain more than ten different chemical elements, are said to be found in these seabeds.
All these resources found in the ocean floor could meet a growing industrial demand in the coming decades. They also contain rare earths used in the development of several technologies, notably for the manufacture of our cell phones, computers and electric vehicles, but also for the production of solar and wind energy.
Nauru, a small island state in the Pacific, hopes to get the ball rolling by shortly authorizing a first industrial project for extraction in the marine environment. It should be noted that for the past year, despite the absence of rules, any state has been able to submit an application for an exploitation contract on behalf of a company.
In this context, the government took advantage of the AIFM meeting to announce that the file of Nori (Nauru Ocean Resources Inc.), a subsidiary of the Canadian company The Metals Company, which wants to exploit polymetallic nodules in the Pacific, is “in the process of being finalized”.
With Agence France-Presse