Canadian companies require us to obtain a deep-sea mining license to bypass UN agencies
A Canadian company announced Tuesday that its U.S. subsidiary filed an application with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to dig the seabed, thereby circumventing anger bypassing a UN agency that regulates deep into international waters.
The Vancouver-based metals company said it is seeking two exploration licenses and commercial recovery licenses, the first time the company has applied for commercial excavation of seabeds.
The document is expected to spark a complex legal battle since Jamaica's International Seabed Authority, the United Nations agency that regulates international deep-sea waters, has the right to authorize a license to exploit.
“Any commercial exploitation without the ISA's authorization will constitute a violation of international law,” the authorities said in late March.
Metals announced plans to seek permission from the U.S. government to begin deep-sea mining in international waters.
There are no regulations that monitor mining, such as scientists warn that extracting minerals from important ecosystems that help regulate climate change can cause permanent damage.
Apply for compliance with Trump's orders
The document comes less than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order that directed the Secretary of Commerce to speed up the review and issuance of exploration and commercial recovery licenses, among other things.
“Through these applications, we provide the United States with a shovel, a new supply of nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese, which are key metals for energy, infrastructure and defense,” Gerard Barron, chairman and CEO of Metals, said in a statement.
Environmentalists and activists condemn the move, saying the ISA has the only power to authorize exploitation permitted.
“This unilateral American effort for the Pacific has faced a fierce international opposition,” said Ruth Ramos, senior Greenpeace International campaigner. “Governments around the world must now step up their defense of international rules and cooperation to prevent rogue deep-sea mining.”
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For years, members of the Authority Council have been debating how and whether deep-sea mining is allowed. So far, authorities have issued only exploration permits, with most of the current exploration focused on the Clarion-Clapperton crack area, which covers 1.7 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers) between Hawaii and Mexico. The area has issued at least 17 of 31 licenses with depths of 13,000 to 19,000 feet (4,000 to 6,000 meters).
The United Nations Convention is ratified by dozens of countries, but not
The International Seabed Authority was founded in 1994 by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was ratified by more than 165 countries, but without the United States.
The metal company believes that the U.S. Seabed Mining Act would allow it to start operations in international waters because it is not a member of the authorities and therefore is not bound by its rules.
“After the continued delay at the international level, the United States now has a clear opportunity to regain its leadership in the deep sea and set global standards for responsible, science-based in-depth resource development,” Barron said.
US mining code cannot guarantee a mining license
But Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney based at the U.S. Center for Nonprofit Biodiversity, said that under the license of the U.S. Seabed Mining Act, this is not a defined conclusion and the company needs a comprehensive environmental analysis.
“The regulation has been in books for 45 years, and there is a reason why no other company extracts minerals from the seabed,” she said in a telephone interview. “The science is clear that companies cannot meet the standards required by the regulations. There is no deep-sea mining without major and catastrophic impact on the environment.”
Jeffers said that if the Trump administration approves the license, it will face legal challenges from environmental groups.
“Not the experiment we should have”
In late March, the Vancouver-based company announced it would seek U.S. permission to start deep-sea mining in international waters to extract minerals used in electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies.
The news comes hours before the ISA Council met on the last day of its two-week meeting, focusing on how and whether mining is allowed. Scientists say it is rushing to collect minerals that take millions of years to release noise, bright and suffocating dust storms from the depths of Earth's oceans.
“Deep sea mining has the potential to affect not only the seabed environment, but also the entire life,” said Jeff Watters, vice president of external to the U.S.-based nonprofit Marine Conservation Association. “There are a lot of mysteries about this part of the ocean, and we’re just able to scratch the surface.”
He said deep-sea mining is not an experiment we should have. ”
Waters said in a telephone interview that the metal companies are seeking to explore larger areas than South Dakota, while the extraction area is larger than Vermont.
“The scale and scale are just huge,” he said.
The company says mining the seabed is cheaper and safer than land
Mining companies say it is cheaper to collect minerals from the seabed rather than from land and has less environmental impact.
An authority spokesman declined comments and mentioned statements earlier this year.
Authorities say that regulating mineral-related activities in the international seabed has the only legal task. It noted that the international legal system established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea applies to all states, whether they are members or not.
“Any effort to avoid international law outside the recognized and consensus international framework or attempt to avoid legal, diplomatic, economic, security, financial and reputational risks may be subject to legal, diplomatic, and economic, security, financial and reputational risks,” the authorities said.
