Underwater mining: the International Seabed Authority under pressure

Deepwater mining aims to find resources such as copper, cobalt and gold, which are used in the manufacture of high-tech products. AP - Dita Alangkara, File

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The UN agency in charge of regulating the deep sea is due to decide in the coming weeks on their mining. And the subject is controversial: the ocean floor is home to many rare metals, but their exploitation could be an environmental disaster. Several States are therefore calling for a moratorium.

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The deadline is approaching in July. "In exactly 100 days," said Emma Wilson of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition at the closing session of the International Seabed Authority Council meeting on Friday 31 March, "the ISA could receive a request from any state sponsor" of a company for an operating contract. The decried mining of the seabed could therefore begin, unless the ten opposing States, including the France, manage to win the case of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), responsible both for the protection of the potential exploitation of the seabed outside national jurisdictions.

► Read also: Towards an authorization of the mining of the seabed?

At the end of these two weeks of negotiations, ocean advocates denounced the "open door" to a very soon green light for underwater mining, even in the absence of strong environmental rules. Yet "the political atmosphere has changed dramatically in a year," said Emma Wilson of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. "There are already two states that have joined the coalition of countries calling for precautions or a moratorium. But beyond this group, there are many countries that have also taken the floor to call for the implementation of the precautionary principle, said Anne-Sophie Roux, of the Alliance for a Sustainable Ocean, who attended the negotiations. The circle of States that are beginning to sound the alarm goes beyond the small circle of States that are calling for a moratorium.

Companies that refuse exploitation projects

At the same time, more and more companies are disengaging from the sector. Samsung and Google have announced that they no longer want to use metals recovered from the deep sea for their products. This week, it is a giant of the sector who said he wanted to leave this industry: "Lockheed Martin [the American giant of armaments, Editor's note] has announced to leave the industry, so to disengage from all its projects of mining the seabed. So, indeed, there is also a financial and economic front alongside the political front.

The Jamaica-based authority has so far only awarded exploration contracts to research centres and companies in well-defined, potentially mineral-rich areas. A final meeting is scheduled before the deadline. This time, the ISA Assembly will meet with its 167 Member States.

► Also listen: The difficult implementation of the High Seas Treaty

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• Oceans
• UN
• Environment
• Raw materials
• Water
• Pollution