One hundred environmental organizations are calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining

It started today third part from the 28th session of the ISA, the International Seabed Authority, the intergovernmental body responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining operations and protecting the oceans.The meeting session will last until November 8th.Marking what is a key step for global ocean policies was the request presented on Wednesday by around a hundred environmental groups who asked for a moratorium on underwater mining precisely in view of the meeting that opened today in Kingston, Jamaica.Opponents to deep sea mining in fact, they fear that the way is being paved for the beginning of exploitation in the near future, despite the devastating consequences - still little explored - that mining on the ocean floor will have on the marine ecosystem.The worst - the activists point out - is that everything is being passed off as a practice that will make the world more sustainable by helping the energy transition away from fossil fuels.

I'm alone 21 countries who took sides a few months ago in favor of a ban or a moratorium of deep-sea mining.In fact, the ISA does not seem to really intend to block extraction work, despite requests from scientists and civil society, but rather is more interested in finding a formula to regulate them and to divide the profits between states and companies.At the July meeting the ISA he hadn't given the green light for extraction because it had not yet reached agreements on the regulation of the sector and the assembly had given itself until 2025 to complete the work.But, in the meantime, the Canadian company The Metals Company (TMC) it could already start mining if a moratorium is not approved.The company has in fact communicated that it wants to start raking the rich seabed of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, in the north-equatorial Pacific, and to this end it has declared that it will submit the request to obtain the exploitation license to the ISA after the July 2024 meeting.“Assuming a one-year review process, NORI expects to enter production in the fourth quarter of 2025,” it said. law on the TMC website.

“Sea mining is one of the key environmental issues of our time, because the deep sea is among the last pristine areas of our planet,” he said. declared Sofia Tsenikli, of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, an alliance of environmental groups based in the Netherlands.The famous race towards the energy transition is in danger of legitimize a new environmental devastation, that of the oceans.The polymetallic nodules present on the seabed are in fact rich in lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, all materials whose demand is increasing dramatically due to the ever-increasing demand for batteries, photovoltaic panels and electric cars.But as also highlighted in relationship of the Scientific Advisory Council of the European Academies (EASAC) of 8 June, seabed minerals are not necessary for the transition to renewable energy technologies, because metals are also available from other sources.The document also highlights how mining would cause irreparable damage to marine ecosystems.

“Unfortunately, the International Seabed Authority is in favor of mining,” he said declared Sandor Mulsow, director of environment and minerals at the ISA between 2013 and 2019, told Mongabay last year.“They are not respecting the role of protecting the common heritage of humanity.”Mulsow also said that the ISA “is not capable of carrying out an environmental impact assessment analysis.”
The ISA leaders, for their part, have stated that their mandate is to protect and regulate the business and that the decisions taken reflect the will of the Member States: “ISA member states have agreed that no mining activity will begin before agreement has been reached on regulations relating to economic exploitation and environmental protection.”

But for now I'm fine 31 exploration requests approved so far by the intergovernmental body of the UN to 22 private companies or countries.17 of these exploration licenses are located in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area that extends for 4.5 million square kilometers between Hawaii and Mexico on whose seabed there appear to be minerals worth tens of billions of euros.

The ISA has also often been criticized for its lack of transparency, starting from the fact that the LTC (the ISA Legal and Technical Commission) meets behind closed doors and provides few details on the parameters through which it evaluates the approval of mining proposals.ISA meetings have also been criticized for transparency issues, given restrictions on participation and limited access to key information for members of civil society.“The very existence of this institution is based on the beginning of mining activities,” he said declared Emma Wilson of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition., underlining that the Authority will be funded by the royalties arising from extraction contracts.

Mining companies argue that harvesting minerals from the deep sea rather than on land is cheaper and has less environmental impact.But scientists and environmental groups warn that less than 1% of the world's deep sea has been explored and warn that offshore mining could unleash devastating consequences for the global ecosystem.“It is a threat to the ocean, home to more than 90% of life on Earth, and one of our greatest allies in the fight against climate change,” said Arlo Hemphill, Greenpeace USA Project Manager on Marine Mining. deep, in one declaration to EcoWatch.

“It has the potential to destroy Earth's last wilderness and endanger our greatest carbon sink, despite proving neither technically nor financially feasible,” he said declared Bobbi-Jo Dobush of the Ocean Foundation, an American non-profit organization.

Greenpeace also raised questions about how TMC secured ISA approval for the test of September last year, the first test of that type to be approved in the Area since the 1970s.An investigation by New York Times revealed that the ISA provided TMC, over a 15-year period, with critical information that allowed it to access some of the most valuable areas of seabed marked for extraction, giving it an unfair advantage over other contractors .“The ISA was established by the United Nations with the purpose of regulating international seabeds, with a mandate to protect them,” Hemphill said. “Instead, they are now enabling the extraction of critically important international seabeds.”

The Canadian company would also bypassed measures designed to secure the interests of developing countries, who should be able to see the data first to help them compete with richer nations.In this case, however, TMC obtained sponsorship from Nauru and Tonga after seeing the data and still holds all rights to the potential mining projects, the New York Times.«This company has decided to game the system and use a poor nation and developing Pacific as means for the exploitation of these resources", Lord Fusitu'a, a former member of Tonga's parliament, told the US newspaper.Of the approximately 200,000 square miles of seabed set aside by the ISA for developing countries, nearly half is now essentially in TMC hands, Hemphill said.

«For decades, Pacific peoples have been sidelined and excluded from decision-making processes in their territories.Deep-sea mining is yet another example of colonial forces exploiting the lands and seas of the Pacific without taking into account the people's lifestyle, their food sources and their spiritual connection to the ocean." declared James Hita, Greenpeace Aotearoa activist for seabed mining.Only a moratorium in this last part of the 28th session of the ISA could block the exploitation of the seabed in its tracks.If the assembly still does not express itself in this direction, the failure to decide will translate into an automatic green light for the company and its desire to start extracting in 2024.

[by Monica Cillerai]