Seabed mining – approach with caution

Nearly 170 nations ended a three-week meeting in Jamaica on Saturday with no decision to allow deep-sea mining for minerals and metals proponents say are needed to drive the green economy. Instead, the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA), adopted a decision to formally discuss the protection of the marine environment at its next meeting in mid-2024. This decision is the correct one. There remains far too much uncertainty over the long-term impacts of large-scale mining on the seabed beyond national jurisdictions – a vast area comprising more than half the seabed on earth. Mining firms and some governments are aggressively pushing for the ISA’s approval to extract potentially billions of tonnes of metals such as cobalt, nickel, copper and lead for electric vehicle batteries, energy storage, wind turbines and other goods. Giant robots suspended from ships are being tested to collect metals and minerals on the seabed several kilometres below the surface.

For now, no mining is allowed. But the ISA has approved 30 contracts to 21 contractors for exploration activities, including geological studies, plus testing mining technology and mineral processing techniques. Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) granted one company – Ocean Mineral Singapore Pte Ltd – an exploration licence in 2015, which remains in effect. Opponents say the need for the metals and minerals is exaggerated and that there needs to be much more study of remote seabeds, given the risks to sea life and possibly the global carbon cycle. Because of the uncertainty and lack of data, a growing number of nations, financial institutions, scientists and environmental groups say deep-sea mining should not go ahead.